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THE 


BY 

J.  C,  REYNOLDS, 

President  of  Christian  University,  Canton,  Mo 


ST.  LOUIS: 

Christian  Publishing  Company, 

1881.’ 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1881, 
By  J.  C.  REYNOLDS, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


■z,  VAC  H-l  TALMADGE 


n  fT7 


TO  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

AT  MOBERLY,  MO., 

THIS  LITTI.E  VOLUME  OF  SERMONS  IS 

DEDICATED, 

.VS  AX  EXPRESSION  OF  THE  AUTHOR’S  GRATITUDE  FOR 

GREAT  CHRISTIAN  KINDNESS 

SHOWN  HIM  1»V  MANY  MEMBERS  OF  THAT  CHURCH. 


4 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/moberlypulpitboo00reyn_0 


INTRODUCTION, 


There  is  no  apology  offered  for  the  appearance  of  another  book, 
for  the  addition  of  another  little  volume  to  the  Christian  Literature 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  is  the  duty  of  Christians  of  every  age 
to  study  the  Scriptures.  They  are  commanded  to  have  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  dwelling  in  them  richly.  Obedience  to  this  apostolic  require¬ 
ment  necessitates  careful  study  of  the  Bible.  Full  and  entire  com¬ 
pliance  with  Paul’s  precept  can  only  be  had  by  close,  even  critical 
study  of  the  words  of  Christ,  the  apostles,  and  the  prophets.  Any 
book  that  will  aid  its  readers  in  the  accurate  understanding  of  the 
divine  writings,  or  that  will  strengthen  their  faith  in  Christ,  in  his 
promises  and  in  his  threatenings,  has  a  right  to  appear  and  to  claim 
a  share  of  the  attention  of  the  reading  public. 

Believing  that  this  little  volume  will  do  these  things  for  those  who 
shall  give  it  a  candid  and  careful  reading,  the  author  modestly  offers 
it  to  all  classes  of  readers.  He  confidently  looks  for  some  degree  of 
appreciation  from  those  who  read  carefully,  think  logically,  and  dig 
beneath  the  surface. 

Believing  that  it  is  a  good  thing  to  exalt  Christ  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people,  the  first  two  sermons  are  devoted  to  an  effort  to  reach  a  strictly 
Scriptural  development  of  the  Divine  Nature  of  Christ,  and  the  next 
two  to  a  like  development  of  his  Human  Nature.  The  fifth  and  sixth 
ermons  teach  of  Christ  as  the  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  and 
the  seventh  is  devoted  to  a  careful  presentation  of  Christ  as  our  great 
High  Priest.  These  seven  discourses  are  all  wholly  devoted  to  the 
study  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

The  eighth,  is  a  Baccalaureate  Sermon,  delivered  before  the  grad¬ 
uating  class  of  Christian  University  in  1880. 


INTRODUCTION. 


\ 


The  ninth  sermon  is  devoted  to  the  Christian  Duty  of  Self-Control 
as  taught  in  the  New  Testament,  and  the  tenth  to  Everlasting  Pun¬ 
ishment,  as  taught  in  the  word  of  God.  The  eleventh  sermon  is 
devoted  to  the  Duty  of  Christian  Giving,  and  the  twelfth  is  an  Inaug¬ 
ural  Address  before  the  officers  and  students  of  Christian  University. 

The  book  is  called  The  Moberly  Pulpit,  because  all  the  sermons 
except  the  eighth,  eleventh  and  twelfth  were  preached  in  the  Christian 
Church  in  Moberly,  Missouri,  and  the  author  was  Pastor  of  that 
church  during  the  time  of  their  preparation  and  delivery. 

With  a  humble  prayer  that  the  Lord  will  bless  it,  and  that  it  may  be 
instrumental  in  doing  good,  the  book  is  modestly  submitted  to  the 
public. 


CONTENTS 


PACtE  . 

SERMON  I. 

The  Divine  Nature  of  Christ,  ...  -  -  -  -  13 

SERMON  II. 

The  Divine  Nature  of  Christ,  Concluded,  -  25 

SERMON  III. 

The  Human  Nature  of  Christ, . 38 

SERMON  IV. 

The  Human  Nature  of  Christ,  Concluded,  -  -  -  51 

SERMON  V. 

Christ,  the  Mediator, . 64 

SERMON  VI. 

Christ,  the  Mediator,  Concluded, . 77 

SERMON  VII. 

Christ,  the  High  Priest, . 95 

SERMON  VIII. 

Baccalaureate,  107 

SERMON  IX. 

S^^Control,  -  -  . 1 19 

SERMON  X. 

Everlasting  Punishment, . 131 

SERMON  XI. 

Christian  Giving,  -  146 

SERMON  XII. 

Inaugural  Address, . 155 


SERMON  I, 


4r 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  CHRIST, 

Preached  Lord’s  Day,  March  24, 1880. 


TEXT. — “  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with 
God,  and  the  Word  was  God.”— John  i  :  1. 

My  Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters  : 

Your  solemn  attention  is,  this  morning,  asked  to  the  loftiest 
theme  upon  which  the  human  mind  has  ever  been  called  to 
think.  That  theme  is : 

THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  JESUS,  THE  CHRIST. 

The  term  nature  is  defined  by  Webster  to  be:  “The  sum  of 
qualities  and  attributes  which  make  a  thing  what  it  is  as  distinct 
from  others;  native  character;  create^  or  essential  quality; 
peculiar  constitution.”  Webster  also  defines  divinity  to  mean : 
“The  state  of  being  divine;  the  nature  or  essence  of  God ;  deity; 
godhead.”  These  definitions  seem  to  be  sound,  and  they  are  cer¬ 
tainly  clear.  Our  work  is,  to  find  “the  sum  of  the  qualities  and 
.attributes”  of  Christ  which  make  him  “  distinct”  from  other 
men.  We,  of  course,  admit  that  Jesus  was  a  man.  We  believe 
him  to  have  been  possessed  of  our  human  nature.  We  believe 
more  than  this.  We  believe  that  he  is  now  possessed  of  human 
nature.  We  believe  that  he  bore  it  away  from  earth  when  he 
ascended  up  on  high,  and  we  believe  that  human  nature  is  glo¬ 
rified  in  heaven  in  his  person. 

But  our  present  task  is  to  show  that  he  is  in  his  nature,  in  the 
very  essence  of  his  being,  divine.  We  propose  to  prove  that  he 
is  divinity’s  self,  that  he  is  God.  There  is  none  in  all  the  uni- 
b  13 


14 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


verse  like  him.  He  is  God.  He  is  man.  He  is  both  human  and 
divine,  both  God  and  man  at  the  same  time.  Matthew  says : 
“  They  shall  call  his  name  Emmanuel ;  which  being  interpreted, 
is,  God  with  us.”  It  is  beyond  all  question  true  that  the  apostle 
understood  him  to  be  God  in  some  sense.  If  in  no  sense  of  the 
word  Godhood  can  be  predicated  of  Jesus,  it  was  a  mistake  to 
call  him  Emmanuel,  or  else  Matthew  misinterpreted  the  word. 
But  Matthew  wrote  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  of  course  made  no  mistakes.  Jesus  is  the  God-man,  and 
was  called  Emmanuel  for  that  very  reason. 

Let  any  candid  man,  possessed  of  good  common  sense,  care¬ 
fully  study  Matthew  i:  18-25,  inclusive,  and  Lukei:  26-38,  in¬ 
clusive,  and  he  must  come  to  the  conclusion  that  God  was  the' 
Father  and  Mary  was  the  mother  of  Jesus.  After  a  candid 
study  of  those  two  Scriptures  no  man  can  consistently  deny  his 
parentage  without  denying  the  truth  of  the  history  itself.  All 
oflspring  has  the  nature  of  its  parents.  God  being  the  Father, 
and  Mary  being  the  mother,  Jesus  combined  the  divine  and  hu¬ 
man  natures  into  one,  and  consequently  was  most  appropriately 
called  Emmanuel,  “  God  with  us.” 

We  can  not  know  all  about  God.  We  can  not  fathom  infinity, 
nor  comprehend  eternity.  But  we  can  continually  learn  of  God 
and  know  more  and  more  about  him  from  day  to  day.  We  have 
some  tolerably  well  defined  ideas  of  his  character,  derived  from 
the  manifestations  of  his  attributes,  both  in  his  revealed  word 
and  in  his  works.  All  Bible  scholars  award  to  him  infinity.  He 
is  absolutely  unlimited.  He  is  limitless.  He  is  illimitable.  All 
Bible  students  agree  in  the  following  propositions  concerning 
him : 

1.  He  is  eternal.  He  is  without  beginning  of  days,  and  will 
never  cease  to  be. 

2.  He  is  omnific.  He  is  creative,  able  to  create  any  thing,  all 
things. 

3.  He  is  omnipotent.  He  possesses  unlimited  power,  is  all 
powerful. 

4.  He  is  omniscient.  He  is  unlimited  in  knowledge. 

5.  He  is  omnipresent.  He  is  every  where  present  at  the  same 
time. 

These  five  propositions  are  only  a  few  statements  as  to  the 
attributes  of  the  Great  Jehovah.  They  are  only^a  part  of  the- 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


15 


manifestations  of  his  character.  But  they  are  enough  for  one 
discourse. 

Now,  if  I  can  prove  that  Jesus  possessed,  and  exhibited  alL 
or  any  of  these  attributes,  I  will  have  proved  that  he  is  divine,  • 
that  the  divine  nature  is  in  him.  We  begin  with  the  first : 

JESUS  IS  ETERNAL. 

Now  let  us  hear  Jesus  himself :  “  And  now,  O  Father,  glorify 
thou  me  with  thine  own  self,  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with 
thee  before  the  world  was.”  Here  the  Savior  prays  while  on 
earth,  and  in  the  flesh,  for  glory.  Yet  he  prays  not  for  new 
glory;  but  for  the  old  glory  that  he  had  formerly  possessed. 
At  the  time  that  he  uttered  this  prayer  he  was  in  a  state  of 
humiliation.  But  he  longs  for  the  glory  that  he  had  enjoyed 
with  the  Father.  He  had  possessed  that  former  glory  “before 
the  world  was,”  before  this  world  was  created.  Certain  it  is, 
then,  that  Christ’s  being,  and  Christ’s  glory  antedate  this  world. 
If  Christ  be  not  eternal,  he  began  to  be  sometime.  But  he  did 
not  begin  to  be  at  any  time  since  the  existence  of  this  world, 
for  he  says  that  he  had  glory  with  the  Father  “before  the  world 
was.”  All  that  this  lacks  of  proving  the  eternity  of  Christ  is, 
that  it  is  possible,  that  there  are  older  creations,  older  than  this 
world.  If  there  be  no  created  thing  older  than  this  world,  thern^ 
Christ  is  eternal,  for  he  is  older  than  this  world. 

But  let  us  hear  Paul  on  this  point:  “And  he”  (Christ)  “is 
before  all  things  and  by  him  all  things  consist.”  Col.  i :  17.  This 
is  said  in  immediate  connection  with  the  creation  of  all  things 
in  heaven  and  in  earth,  the  creation  of  things  visible  and  things 
invisible.  This  makes  our  Lord  antedate  all  things  created. 
He  is  older  than  the  first  thing  created  in  this  universe.  Then, 
he  is  eternal,  and  there  is  no  escape  from  this  conclusion.  But 
nothing  is  eternal  but  God.  Christ,'  then,  being  eternal,  is  God. 

Our  second  proposition  is : 

HE  IS  OMNIFIC. 

Ife  is  creative.  He  is  the  Creator.  Proof:  “God,  who  at 
sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners,  spake  in  time  past  unto 
the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath  in  these' last  days  spoken  unto 
us  by  his  Son,  whom  he  hath  appointed  heir  of  all  things,  by 
whom  also  he  made  the  worlds.” 

This  you  will  recognize  as  the  beginning  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews.  It  is  unequivocally  declared  that  God  made  the 


18 


THE  MOB  ERL  Y  PULPIT. 


worlds  by  his  Son.  But  how  did  God  make  the  worlds  by  his 
Son  ?  What  part  did  the  Son  play  in  world  making?  Was  he 
.merely  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  Creator  like  a  sickle 
in  the  hands  of  the  reaper,  or  a  sword  in  the  hands  of  the  sol¬ 
dier?  Or  did  he  in  full  accord  with  the  will  of  the  Father  go 
Torth  and  himself  do  the  work  of  creating  worlds  ?  These  are 
proper  questions,  and  they  naturally  arise  in  your  minds. 
Whether  we  shall  be  able  to  fully  answer  these  questions  in  the 
light  of  this  single  passage,  it  is  not  now  necessary  to  determine, 
for  we  will  take  it  in  connection  with  other  Scriptures.  But, 
first,  let  us  get  what  we  certainly  can  from  this  Scripture  alone. 
God  is  here  said  to  have  done  three  things  : 

1.  He  spoke  to  the  fathers. 

2.  He  spoke  to  the  people  of  the  writer's  day. 

3.  He,  also,  made  the  worlds. 

But  did  God  do  any  of  these  things  in  his  own  person  or  di- 
■rectly?  No.  He  spoke  to  the  fathers  “  by  the  prophets.”  The 
prophets  did  the  speaking.  He  spoke  to  the  people  of  the 
apostolic  day  “  by  his  Son.”  His  Son  did  the  speaking.  He 
also  made  the  worlds  by  his  Son.  Did  not  his  Son  do  the  world 
making  ?  Wras  he  not  Creator?  This  is  certain  then,  that  Christ, 
to  say  the  least  of  it,  was  an  active  participant  in  the  work  of 
making  the  worlds. 

The  Unitarian  who  seeks  to  escape  the  creative  character  of 
Christ,  who  denies  that  he  is  omnific,  would  object  at  this  point, 
and  learnedly  tell  us  that  the  Greek  word  aton,  the  accusative 
.case  plural  of  which,  is,  in  this  passage  rendered  worlds,  does 
,not  mean  the  physical  worlds.  That  the  word  does  not  always 
fmean  this,  is  most  readily  granted.  But  that  it  applies  to  the 
.material  worlds  in  this  place  is  stoutly  maintained.  Of  course 
This  is  not  the  primary  meaning  of  the  word.  But  all  words 
.  are  used  in  more  than  their  primary  uses.  It  is  claimed  by  those 
,who  deny  the  divine  nature  of  Christ,  that  worlds  mean  the 
.Jewish  and  Christian  ages,  or  dispensations  in  this  passage. 
But  that  will  not  do.  For  they  were  established  by  the  speak¬ 
ings  by  the  prophets,  and  by  the  speaking  of  the  Son,  but  the 
making  of  the  worlds  was  a  distinct  work.  God  spoke  by  the 
prophets,  and  spoke  by  the  Son,  but  he  also  made  the  worlds 
by  his  Son.  This  was  a  separate  and  distinct  work. 

JNot  only  so,  but  the  writer  of  the  Hebrew  Epistle  in  the  elev- 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


17 


enth  chapter  and  third  verse,  uses  this  language :  “  Through 
faith  we  understand  that  the  worlds  were  framed  by  the  word 
of  God,  so  that  things  which  are  seen  were  not  made  of  things 
which  do  appear.”  Worlds  in  this  verse  comes  from  the  same 
Greek  word,  and  is  evidently  applied  to  the  material  worlds, 
the  worlds  that  are  seen.  The  meaning  of  the  verse  is,  that  by 
taith  we  understand  that  the  visible  earth,  sun,  moon,  planets 
and  stars  were  not  made  out  of  materials  furnished  to  hand,  but 
that  they  were  created,  made  out  of  nothing,  by  the  word  of 
God.  But  the  things  which  are  seen  are  the  material  universe. 
In  the  other  passage,  first  quoted,  they  are  said  to  be  made  by 
the  Son. 

Paul,  in  Col.  i :  16,  17,  says  of  Christ :  “  By  him  were  all 
things  created  that  are  in  heaven  and  that  are  in  earth,  visible 
and  invisible,  whether  they  be  thrones,  or  dominions,  or  princi¬ 
palities  or  powers  :  all  things  were  created  by  him,  and  for  him.” 
Then  comes  the  verse  before  quoted :  “  And  he  is  before  all 
things,  and  by  him  all  things  consist.” 

Things  visible  include  every  thing  in  the  universe  that  can  be 
seen  by  the  eye.  Earth,  moon,  sun,  all  the  planets,  stars,  cometsr 
meteors,  mountains,  seas,  flowers,  trees,  birds,  beasts,  human 
bodies.  Things  invisible  include  all  existences  in  the  universe 
not  visible  to  the  eye.  Life,  whether  vegetable,  animal,  human 
or  angelic,  is  invisible.  You  can  see  a  tree,  its  trunk,  its  roots, 
its  branches,  its  flowers,  its  leaves,  its  fruit,  but  you  can  not  see 
its  life,  its  vital  force.  You  can  see  an  animal  body  but  you  can 
not  see  its  life.  You  may  take  a  healthy  man  weighing  two 
hundred  pounds  when  all  his  vital  forces  are  in  their  normal 
condition,  and  lower  him  into  a  well  filled  with  carbonic  acid 
gas,  and  he  is  a  dead  man  instantaneously.  Draw  hie 
body  out,  put  it  on  the  scales,  it  weighs  two  hundred  pounds. 
No  part  of  the  material  man  is  gone,  yet  the  man  to- 
gone.  The  vital  force  is  no  more.  The  man’s  spirit  has  also* 
fled.  The  spirit  will  not  tor  a  moment  occupy  a  dead  body. 
But  you  never  saw  a  spirit,  not  even  your  own  spirit.  From 
the  top  of  a  chimney  let  fall  a  brick.  With  great  velocity  it 
falls  to  the  ground.  Why  does  it  not  fall  the  other  way  ? 

You  tell  me  that  gravity  draws  it  with  an  irresistible  force 
towards  the  center  of  the  earth.  True.  But  did  you  ever  see 
gravity?  No,  you  did  not.  Yet  we  are  sure  that  wherever 


18 


THE  M0BERLY  PULPIT. 


matter  is,  gravity  is  there  also.  Wherever  material  is,  the  im¬ 
material  is  there  also  as  its  counter  part.  But  every  thing  that 
is,  either  is  visible  or  invisible.  We  can  conceive  of  nothing 
that  is  not  one  or  the  other.  Now  Paul,  under  the  inspiration 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  declares  that  all  things  visible,  that  all  things 
invisible,  were  created;  yes,  created;  that  is  the  word;  all 
things ;  not  some  things ;  but  all  things  were  created  by  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And,  as  if  to  cut  off  all  cavil  Paul  also  says 
that  all  things  that  are  in  heaven,  that  are  in  earth,  were  created 
by  him. 

Now,  brethren,  try  to  think  of  some  creature,  if  you  can,  that 
is  neither  in  the  heavens,  nor  on  the  earth,  that  is  neither  visible 
nor  invisible.  Well,  of  course  you  can  not  do  it.  If  you  could 
conceive  of  such  a  creature,  you  would  have  to  locate  him  some¬ 
where,  and  if  you  even  could  do  that,  you  would  still  be  unable 
to  find  a  place,  state,  or  condition,  between  visibility  and  invis¬ 
ibility.  Then  Jesus  is  omnific.  Jesus  is  the  Creator.  He  who 
has  created  can  create.  But  if  Jesus  be  omnific,  he  is  to  all  in¬ 
tents  and  purposes  divine.  No  creature  can  create.  He  who 
creates  exists  before  the  creature.  Hence,  Paul  says  truly  that 
“  He  is  before  all  things.” 

Again  Paul  says  that  “By  him  all  things  consist.”  All  things 
mean  and  include  the  things  in  heaven  and  the  things  on  earth, 
the  things  visible  and  the  things  invisible.  They  consist,  stand 
in  their  places,  keep  their  relative  positions  in  the  present 
tense,  in  the  year  1880,  in  the  month  of  March,  to-day,  at  this 
moment,  because  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  holds  them  to  their 
places.  Why  does  not  the  moon  come  rushing  pell-mell  upon 
the  earth,  crushing  both  bodies  into  fragments,  and  destroying 
vevery  living  thing?  You  tell  me  that  they  are  balanced,  the 
one  against  the  other,  that  they  are  held  in  equilibrium  by 
the  law  of  gravity.  But  we  have  seen  that  gravity  is  a 
subtle,  invisible,  immaterial  influence.  We  have  also  seen 
that  Jesus  created  that  invisible  something  called  gravity. 
Gravity  is  perhaps  nothing  more  than  the  Creator’s  thought  or 
will  applied  to  all  matter.  Certain  it  is,  that  he  is  the  author 
of  it,  and  controls  it,  and  that  the  worlds  are  enabled  to  keep 
their  places  by  him.  The  third  verse  of  the  first  chapter  of 
Hebrews  says  of  Christ:  “Who  being  the  brightness  of  his 
j^lory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person,  and  upholding  all 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


19 


things  by  the  word  of  his  power,  when  he  had  by  himself 
purged  our  sins,  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on 
high.”  This  is  said  in  immediate  connection  with  the  state¬ 
ment-  that  by  him  the  worlds  were  made.  “Upholding  all 
things  by  the  word  of  his  power  ”  certainly  teaches  that  the 
present  siability  of  the  universe  depends  on  him.  He  holds 
and  upholds  the  worlds  by  the  exercise  of  his  divine  power. 

But  we  turn  to  another  Bible  writer  and  quote  his  words. 
The  apostle  John  says :  “  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word  and 
the  Word  was  with  God  and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same 
was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All  things  were  made  by  him, 
and  without  him  was  not  anything  made  that  was  made.” 

In  this  Scripture  everything  is  ascribed  to  Jesus  that  it  is 
possible  to  ascribe  to  a  perfect  Jehovah.  Both  his  eternity  and 
divinity,  and  infinity,  too,  are  taught  here.  The  phrase  “in  the 
beginning  ”  is  the  same  as  used  by  Moses  in  giving  the  history 
of  the  original  creation.  “In  the  beginning,”  expresses  the 
period  of  the  first  creative  act  of  the  infinite  Jehovah.  Noth¬ 
ing,  absolutely  nothing,  goes  before  the  “  beginning  ”  but  God 
himself.  God,  and  only  God,  antedates  the  “  beginning.”  But 
John,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  says  that  the 
Logos — Word  —  was  already  in  existence  “in  the  beginning.” 
The  Logos  — Word  —  was  with  God.  The  Word  had  a  common 
existence  with  God.  But  the  Logos — Word  —  was  God.  But 
every  Bible  student  knows  that  John  means  by  the  Word  simply 
Jesus  Christ.  We  shall  do  no  violence  to  the  sense  if  we  put 
Jesus  in  the  place  of  the  Logos  in  the  passage.  For  John  says : 
“The  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us.”  The  Logos 
— Word  —  made  flesh,  was  Jesus  Christ.  He  was  made  flesh  in 
his  conception  and  birth  of  the  virgin  Mary.  He  dwelt  among 
us  in  Bethlehem,  in  Nazareth,  in  Bethany,  in  Galilee,  in  Judea, 
and  in  Jerusalem,  preaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom,  teach¬ 
ing  his  disciples  and  doing  his  mighty  works. 

But  this  Word  that  was  made  flesh  in  Judea  was  with  God 
in  “ the  beginning,”  and  “was  God.”  Can  language  be  plainer  ? 
Is  not  a  man  who  persists  in  making  Christ  inferior,  obsti¬ 
nately  unbelieving?  The  plain  statement  of  the  apostle  is  easily 
understood.  How  the  Word  was  God  in  the  beginning,  and 
how  the  Word  was  made  flesh,  may  be  too  high,  too  deep,  too 
profound  for  us.  We  may  never  in  this  life  be  able  to  under- 


20 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


stand  how.  But  the  propositions  that  the  Word  was  God  and 
that  the  Word  was  made  flesh  are  so  straight  forward,  and 
couched  in  words  so  simple  and  so  plain,  that  we  can  not  fail  to 
see  the  facts.  Let  us,  brethren,  with  a  faith  that  staggers  not, 
lay  hold  on  Jesus  who  was  God  “in  the  beginning,”  and  who 
“  was  made  flesh  ”  for  our  sakes.  Let  us  accept  in  full  assurance 
of  faith  the  facts,  whether  we  can  fathom  the  how  or  the  why 
or  not.  Our  salvation  does  not  depend  upon  our  philosophy.; 
but  remember,  brethren,  that  “  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to 
please”  our  God.  Our  philosophy  is  a  matter  of  little  conse¬ 
quence,  but  our  faith  is  a  matter  of  the  most  transcendent 
importance.  The  unlettered  rustic  often  outstrips  the  learned 
scientist  in  the  Christian  race.  While  the  one  is  wasting  his 
time  in  trying  to  harmonize  the  claims  of  Jesus  with  his  philos¬ 
ophy,  and  not  being  always  able  to  do  that,  rejects  him£the 
other,  believing  all  that  God  has  said,  accepts  of  him,  trusts 
him,  obeys  him,  and  goes  forward  in  the  straight  and  narrow 
way  toward  the  heavenly  land. 

“All  things  were  made  by  him.”  All  things  were  made  by 
Jesus  Christ,  is  the  apostle’s  meaning.  “Without  him  was  not 
anything  made  that  was  made.”  The  Greek  word  here  ren¬ 
dered,  was  made,  is  defined  in  the  Lexicon  to  Bagster’s  Greek 
New  Testament  primarily,  “to  come  into  existence;  to  be 
created,  exist  by  creation.”  This  is  high  authority.  The  defi¬ 
nitions  must  be  received  as  correct.  The  fact  is  that  all  things, 
all  creatures,  came  into  existence  by  Jesus  Christ.  “Without 
him  was  not  anything  made  that  was  made,”  accurately  ren¬ 
dered  from  the  Greek,  reads :  Without  him  not  one  thing 
came  into  existence  that  did  come  into  existence.  Certainly 
nothing  can  be  plainer  than  the  fact  that  Jesus  was  and  is  the 
Creator  of  all  things  that  have  come  into  existence  in  this 
boundless  universe.  Whether  suns,  planets,  satellites,  stars, 
comets  or  swiftly  shooting  meteors,  Jesus,  our  King,  brought 
them  into  existence.  Whether  birds,  beasts  or  fishes,  whether 
microscopic  infusoria  or  the  huge  elephant,  Jesus,  our  Lord, 
brought  them  into  existence.  Whether  men  or  angels, 
possessed  of  undying  spirits,  Jesus,  our  elder  Brother,  brought 
them  into  existence.  Himself  self-existent,  and  uncreated,  he 
is  the  author  of  all  created  existence. 

“  In  him  was  life  ”  is  another  truth  recorded  of  him  by  John. 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


21 


He  created  all  lower  forms  of  life ;  but  life  was  in  him  before 
there  was  any  created  or  creature  life.  When  was  life  in  him  ? 
“  In  the  beginning.”  That,  then,  was  eternal  life,  for  it  pre¬ 
ceded  all  creature  life.  But  hear  John  again,  in  the  first  chap¬ 
ter  and  first  verse  of  his  first  epistle  :  “  That  which  was  from 
the  beginning,  which  we  have  heard,  which  we  have  seen  with 
our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon  and  our  hands  have 
handled  of  the  Word  of  Life.”  Now,  this  is  the  same  Word,, 
the  same  Logos ,  spoken  of  in  the  Scripture  already  examined. 
It  is  here  called  “the  Word  of  life.”  Of  this  “Word  of  life,” 
John  asserts  three  things:  1.  We  have  heard  it.  2.  We  have 
seen  it  with  our  eyes.  3.  We  have  handled  it  with  our  hands. 
When  did  John  and  the  other  disciples  hear,  and  see,  and  handle 
this  Word  of  life  “which  was  from  the  beginning?”  The 
answer  must  be,  when  “the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt 
among  us.”  What  kind  of  life  was  in  him  ?  The  next  verse 
gives  the  answer:  “For  the  life  was  manifested  and  we  have 
seen  it,  and  bear  witness,  and  shew  unto  you  that  eternal  life 
which  was  with  the  Father,  and  which  was  manifested  unto  us.” 
That  settles  it.  It  was  eternal  life  that  was  in  Jesus  that  the 
disciples  heard  and  saw  and  handled,  and  which  they  have 
declared  to  us.  But  if  eternal  life  was  in  him  at  the  beginning 
there  is  no  escape  from  the  conclusion,  that  he  is  himself  both 
eternal  and  the  Creator  of  all  life. 

But  let  us  go  one  step  farther.  John  says  again :  “And  this 
is  the  record  that  God  hath  given  to  us  eternal  life,  and  this  life 
is  in  his  Son.  He  that  hath  the  Son,  hath  life ;  and  he  that  hath 
not  the  Son  bath  not  life.”  Here,  again,  we  find  eternal  life  in 
the  Son.  We  have  already  seen  that  eternal  life  was  in  him  at 
the  beginning.  But  in  this  place  we  find  it  in  him  on  earth. 
The  record  here  is  that  God  has  given  us  eternal  life.  God 
gave  his  Son  to  man  as  a  gift.  He  is  God’s  best  gift  to  us.  But 
eternal  life  was  in  his  Son.  And  when  he  became  a  gift  to  ua 
we  deceived  the  life  eternal  that  was  and  is  in  him.  “He  that 
hath  the  Son  hath  life.”  Eternal  life  aud  the  divine  nature  are 
thus  made  accessible  to  men,  in  the  Son.  He  who  opens  the- 
door  of  his  heart  and  lets  Jesus  come  in,  at  the  same  time  lets 
eternal  life  come  in;  lets  the  divine  nature  come  in;  lets  the 
Holy  Spirit  come  in ;  lets  the  Father  come  in.  When  a  man 
opens  the  door  of  his  heart  to  Jesus,  the  devil  goes  out;  his 


22 


THE  MOBEKLY  PULPIT. 


past  sins  go  out;  the  inordinate  love  of  the  world  goes  out; 
malice  goes  out;  envy  goes  out;  hypocrisy  goes  out;  vain, 
f  oolish  pride  goes  out ;  hardness  of  heart  goes  out,  and  rebellion 
against  God  goes  out.  When  Jesus  comes  in,  hatred  gives  place 
to  love ;  revenge  gives  place  to  mercy ;  covetousness  gives  place 
to  benevolence ;  corrupt  thoughts  give  place  to  pure  ones ;  un¬ 
holy  desires  give  place  to  chaste  ones ;  and  the  love  of  the  world 
gives  place  to  the  love  of  the  things  which  are  above. 

Our  third  proposition  is : 

HE  IS  OMNIPOTENT. 

He  possesses  and  exercises  unlimited  power.  We  use  the 
word  power  in  two  senses.  We  mean  by  it,  sometimes  author¬ 
ity,  and  sometimes  might  or  strength.  In  the  former  sense  we 
say  that  the  governor  has  power  to  pardon  a  convicted  crim¬ 
inal.  No  other  man  in  the  State  is  clothed  with  the  authority 
to  do  such  an  act.  In  the  latter  sense  we  attribute  power  to  a 
man  possessed  of  great  physical  strength.  We  say  that  he  is  a 
powerful  man.  We  say  the  same  of  a  man  endowed  with  great 
intellectual  faculties.  We  call  him  a  powerful  man,  too.  In 
this  sense,  power  means  about  the  same  as  ability.  Having  one 
word  to  represent  two  or  more  ideas  makes  our  language 
frequently  ambiguous.  In  the  Greek  language  there  are  two 
words,  one  for  each  of  these  two  ideas.  Exousia  means  author¬ 
ity,  and  dunamis  means  ability.  These  words  both  occur  very 
frequently  in  the  Greek  Scriptures.  We  propose  to  prove  that 
Jesus  exercises  power  in  both  senses  without  limit.  If  we  do 
that,  then  he  is  also  omnipotent  as  well  as  eternal  and  omnific. 
Jesus  himself  says:  “All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven 
and  in  earth.  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing 
them  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I 
have  commanded  you;  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world.”  This  is  the  Great  Commission.  In  it 
the  word  power  comes  from  exousia  —  authority.  He  does  not 
claim  authority  merely,  some  authority,  in  heaven,  on  earth, 
but  he  assumes  to  exercise  all  power  both  in  heaven  and  on 
earth.  There  is  no  rule,  no  authority  anywhere,  no  prerogative 
in  the  universe  that  does  not  of  right  belong  to  him.  He  over¬ 
tops  all  authorities.  There  is  no  ruler  higher  than  he.  When 
he  commands,  it  is  with  the  authority  of  heaven  and  earth,  with 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


23 


the  authority  of  G-od,  angels  and  men.  He  is  unlimited  here. 
He  is  omnipotent  at  this  point. 

In  the  sense  of  ability  or  might  he  is  absolutely  unlimited,  as 
is  shown  by  the  following  considerations  and  facts : 

1.  He  created  the  worlds.  This  has  been  abundantly  proven 
already.  Less  than  omnipotence  can  not  create,  can  not  make 
a  world  without  materials.  There  can  be  no  higher  exhibition 
of  power  than  to  create. 

2.  He  displayed  unlimited  power  in  raising  the  dead,  opening 
blind  eyes,  causing  the  deaf  to  hear  and  the  lame  to  walk. 

3.  He  displayed  omnipotence  in  laying  down  his  life  for  the 
world,  and  taking  it  again.  Of  his  life  he  said:  “No  man 
taketh  it  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself.  I  have  power 
to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again.”  He  died 
and  rose  again.  This  is  proof  enough  of  omnipotent  power. 

Our  fourth  proposition  is : 

HE  IS  OMNISCIENT. 

He  is  not  ignorant  of  any  thing.  He  knows  all  things.  He 
is  the  only  person  who  has  lived  on  this  earth  who  never  made 
a  mistake,  who  never  uttered  an  indiscreet  word.  He  never 
became  entangled  in  his  teachings.  Though  assailed  by  Scribe 
and  Pharisee,  he  was  never  embarrassed.  He  always  gave  the 
best  answer  that  could  be  given.  The  explanation  of  it  is,  he 
knew  all  things.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he  outstripped  all 
the  learning  of  all  the  doctors  in  Jerusalem.  He  knew  the 
thoughts  of  the  hearts  of  the  people.  He  knew  beforehand 
that  Judas  would  betray  him.  He  knew  that  Peter  would  deny 
him  three  times.  He  knew  the  time  when  he  would  deny  him. 
He  knew  it  before  Peter  had  thought  of  such  a  thing.  He 
knew  that  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple  would  be  destroyed.  He 
knew  that  he  would  rise  from  the  dead.  He  knew  that  his 
disciples  would  be  persecuted,  imprisoned,  put  to  death.  But 
we  have  not  time  to  follow  this  thought  farther  now.  But  we 
have^no  fear  nor  doubt  in  declaring  him  omniscient. 

Our  fifth  proposition  is: 

HE  IS  OMNIPRESENT. 

He  is  everywhere  present  at  the  same  time.  This  is  verified 
by  his  promises.  He  is  gone  into  heaven,  but  he  has  promised 
to  be  with  us  on  the  earth,  too.  We  will  content  ourselves  on 
this  point  with  only  one  of  his  precious  promises.  He  has  said 


24 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


that  “Where  two  or  three  are  met  together  in  my  name,  there' 
will  I  be  in  the  midst.”  We,  beloved  brethren,  are  now  assem¬ 
bled  in  his  blessed  name.  He  is  in  our  midst ;  not  visible  to 
eyes  of  flesh,  but  none  the  less  certainly  present.  He  is  visible 
to  the  eye  of  faith.  Let  not  the  eye  of  faith  become  dim.  The 
eyes  of  flesh  wear  out,  but  the  eye  of  faith  ought  never  to  fail, 
ne^er  to  grow  old,  ought  to  grow  brighter  and  brighter  until 
we  cross  the  Jordan. 

But  Jesus  is  not  with  us  only.  He  is,  at  the  same  time,  with 
his  disciples  in  Paris,  in  St.  Joseph,  in  Chicago,  in  Kansas  City, 
in  Cincinnati,  in  St.  Louis  —  everywhere.  The  promise  is  to 
them  as  well  as  to  us.  Let  us  be  solemn  now!  Jesus  is  here!! 
Let  no  hypocrisy  lurk  in  any  heart  here.  He  sees  it  if  it  be 
here.  Oh!  let  us  realize  how  solemn  and  how  good  a  thing  it 
is  to  meet  with  the  Lord.  Lift  up  your  souls  in  thankfulness 
to  our  God  to-day,  brethren,  that  we  can  call  the  eternal,  om- 
nific,  omnipotent,  omniscient,  omnipresent  Son  of  God,  our 
beloved  elder  Brother. 

Now,  is  there  a  sin-sick  soul  here  to-day  who  is  willing  to 
open  the  door  of  his  heart  and  let  Jesus  come  in?  If  so,  while 
the  brethren  sing, 

“Come,  humble  sinner,  in  whose  breast,” 
come,  give  us  your  hand  in  token  of  your  desire  to  confess  him 
before  men. 


SERMON  II, 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  CHRIST, 

CONCLUDED. 

Preached  Lord’s  Day,  April  4, 1880. 


Text.— “I  and  my  Father  are  one.”—  Jesus. 

CMy  Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters  : 

To-day  we  will  continue  the  study  of  the  Divine  Nature  of 
Ghrist.  In  the  preceding  discourse  we  proved  Christ  to  be 
eternal,  omnific,  omnipotent,  omniscient  and  omnipresent.  To¬ 
day  we  will  consider  his  oneness  with  the  Father.  This  one¬ 
ness,  we  shall  see,  involves  his  divine  nature.  We  will  hear  the 
Savior  himself  on  this  transcendently  glorious  theme.  There 
was  a  man,  at  the  pool  Bethesda,  who  had  been  suffering  with 
an  infirmity  of  thirty-eight  years’  standing.  To  this  poor  man 
-Jesus,  on  a  Sabbath  day,  said:  “Rise,  take  up  thy  bed  and 
walk.”  The  man  was  thus,  immediately,  entirely  cured  of  his 
malady.  The  Jews  sought  to  take  the  life  of  Jesus  for  doing 
this  good  deed  on  the  Sabbath. 

To  these  persecuting,  murderous  Jews,  Jesus  said:  “My 
Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work.”  The  Jews  were  more 
angry  than  ever,  and  “  sought  the  more  to  kill  him,  because  he 
not  only  had  broken  the  Sabbath,  but  said  also  that  God  was 
his  Father,  making  himself  equal  with  God.”  The  Jews  cer¬ 
tainly  understood  him  to  claim  equality  with  God.  This  he  did 
not  disavow.  They  looked  upon  him  simply  as  a  man,  and  to 
them  it  was  an  awful  thing  for  him  to  claim  equality  with  the 
God  of  Israel.  With  the  Jews,  the  claiming  God  for  his  Father 

was  equivalent  to  claiming  equality  with  God.  Jesus  knew 

25 


26 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


that,  and  knowing  that,  he  said  :  “My  Father  worketh  hither¬ 
to,  and  I  work.”  At  this  point  one  of  two  things  is  true: 
Either  Jesus  misled  the  Jews  knowingly,  or  else  he  did  claim 
equality  with  God.  The  former  can  not  be  entertained  for  a 
moment.  Then  the  latter  is  true.  But  if  Jesus  claimed  equal¬ 
ity  with  God,  he  is  equal  with  Him,  and  therefore,  divine. 

But  Christ  did  not  stop  at  that.  To  the  J ews  he  further  said : 
“  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  the  Son  can  do  nothing  of  him¬ 
self,  but  what  he  seeth  the  Father  do.”  The  Unitarian  will 
struggle  hard  at  this  point  to  reduce  Christ  to  the  position  of  a 
creature.  But  he  stops  too  soon.  This  is  not  the  whole  sen¬ 
tence.  No  man  has  a  right  to  build  a  theory  on  a  part  of  what 
the  Savior  says  on  a  given  topic.  This  is  one  of  the  fruitful 
sources  of  error.  We  closed  the  quotation  at  a  colon.  This 
will  not  do.  Let  us  quote  again,  and  go  on  until  we  reach  a 
period :  “  Y erily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  the  Son  can  do  nothing 
of  himself,  but  what  he  seeth  the  father  do:  for  what  things 
soever  he  doeth,  these  also  doeth  the  Son  likewise.”  What 
things  soever,  is  sweeping.  Anything  that  the  Father  does,  the 
Son  does  also.  If  the  Son  can  do  anything  and  everything 
that  the  Father  does,  he  is  in  ability  to  do,  equal  with  the 
Father.  But,  if  equal  with  the  Father,  he  is  infinite.  But,  if 
infinite,  he  is  uncreated  and  divine. 

But  Jesus  goes  on,  and  says  :  “  For  as  the  Father  raiseth  up 
the  dead,  and  quickeneth  them,  even  so  the  Son  quickeneth 
whom  he  will.”  The  Jews  believed  that  God  could  raise  the 
dead.  Jesus  agreed  with  them  in  this,  and  thus  there  was  one 
point  of  agreement  between  them  and  Jesus.  This  common 
ground  he  makes  the  basis  of  an  argument  in  favor  of  his  claim 
to  being  equal  with  God.  The  power  to  raise  the  dead,  to 
quicken,  to  make  the  dead  alive,  was  admitted  to  be  a  God-like 
power.  It  was  admitted  that  it  could  only  be  done  by  God 
himself.  The  Jews  believed  that,  and  Christ  did  not  for  a 
moment  controvert  it.  Yet  he  says,  “Even  so  the  Son  quick¬ 
eneth  whom  he  will.”  Now,  if  none  but  God  can  make  alive, 
and  that  is  admitted,  for  any  one  to  claim  to  be  able  to  do  that 
is,  in  effect,  to  claim  divinity,  to  claim  to  be  God.  This  is  just 
the  thing  to  which  Jesus  does  lay  claim.  Jesus  does  not 
quicken  the  dead  simply  as  an  agent  empowered  to  raise  some 
particular  persons  from  the  dead.  “The  Son  quickeneth  whom 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


27 


he  will.”  He  has  a  will  of  his  own  in  this  work.  The  resur¬ 
rection  of  the  dead,  then,  depends  upon  the  will  of  Christ.  If 
it  were  his  will,  we  should  remain  under  the  dominion  of  death 
forever.  But  it  is  his  will  that  we  shall  live  again.  He  has 
given  indubitable  proof  both  of  his  will  and  his  ability  to  exe¬ 
cute  it  in  laying  down  his  own  life  and  taking  it  again.  In  his 
death,  burial  and  resurrection  we  have  the  proof  that  he  can 
quicken  our  mortal  bodies. 

Let  us  hear  Jesus  still  farther.  He  says:  “For  the  Father 
judgeth  no  man,  but  hath  committed  all  judgment  unto  the 
Son;  that  all  men  should  honor  the  Son  even  as  they  honor  the 
Father.  He  that  honoreth  not  the  Son,  honoreth  not  the  Father 
who  hath  sent  him.”  These  words  of  the  Savior  are  recorded  in 
the  twenty- seeond  and  twenty-third  verses  of  the  fifth  chapter 
of  John.  All  the  words  thus  far  examined  are  in  that  chapter. 
Remember  that  the  contest  is  between  Jesus  and  the  Jews, 
they  seeking  to  kill  him  for  making  himself  equal  with  God, 
he  not  denying  the  charge,  but  justifying  himself  in  exercising 
the  divine  prerogative.  In  these  last  quoted  words  he  claims 
the  right  and  the  power  to  exercise  all  judgment.  The  right 
and  power  of  exclusive  judgment  is  his.  He  was  possessed  of 
this  right  and  this  power,  even  when  on  the  earth  and  in  the  flesh. 
To  be  the  unerring  Judge  of  all  men  requires  more  than  the 
highest  possible  human  or  angelic  qualities.  Eternal  conse¬ 
quences  to  every  human  being  are  involved  in  the  rulings  and 
decisions  of  this  J udge.  All  human  j  udges  are  liable  to  err,  and* 
sometimes  do  err.  Even  when  only  earthly  considerations  are 
involved,  there  is  provision  made  that  an  appeal  may  be  taken 
from  lower  to  higher  courts ;  so  that  if  human  wisdom,  in  human 
weakness,  stumble,  and  justice  be  not  done,  another  trial  may 
be  had,  affording  an  opportunity  to  correct  errors  and  undo 
wrongs.  But  here  is  one  who  has  been  appointed  Chief  Jus¬ 
tice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Universe;  yea,  more  than 
Chief  Justice;  He  is  sole  and  only,  the  One  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Heaven  and  of  Earth.  From  his  decisions, 
for  all  eternity,  there  can  be  no  appeal.  The  child  of  God  may 
be  and  sometimes  is,  wronged  and  oppressed  by  human  courts 
and  human  judges.  But  if  all  earthly  tribunals  fail  him  he  has 
one  final  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  whose  Judge  will  never, 
never,  NEVER,  make  an  unrighteous  decision.  But  such  a 


-28 


THE  MOBEKLY  PULPIT. 


Judge  must  have  infinite  wisdom,  so  that  he  may  know  the 
law  perfectly,  so  that  he  may  know  the  facts  perfectly  in  every 
man’s  case,  and  so,  also,  that  he  may  know  every  man’s  heart 
perfectly.  This  Judge  is  to  do,  in  all  cases,  perfect  justice. 
Without  infinite  wisdom  to  know  the  law,  without  infinite  wis- 
4om  to  know  the  facts,  without  infinite  wisdom  to  know  the 
thoughts,  motives,  and  purposes  ot  the  heart  of  him  who  is 
judged,  an  erroneous  decision  might  be  made.  But  as  no  mis¬ 
takes  will  be  charged  upon  the  final  Court,  then  we  must  award 
to  the  Judge  infinite  wisdom  to  know  the  right,  infinite  good¬ 
ness  to  choose  the  right,  and  infinite  power  to  execute  the  right. 
But  to  award  infinity  to  this  Judge  is  equivalent  to  awarding 
him  divinity.  Then  the  J udge  is  possessed  of  the  divine  nature. 
He  is  divine. 

But  let  us  now  inquire  the  reason  why  “all  judgment”  has 
been  committed  to  the  Son  ?  The  Son  himself  gives  the  answer. 
It  is  as  follows:  “That  all  men  should  honor  the  Son  as  they 
honor  the  Father.”  The  Greek  has  not  the  word  man  in  this 
quotation.  It  reads:  “  That  all  should  honor  the  Son  as  they 
honor  the  Father.”  This  does  not  confine  the  honor  due  to  the 
Son  to  men,  as  King  James’  version  does.  All  intelligences, 
below  God  himself,  are  to  honor  the  Son.  When  ?  Whenever 
they  honor  the  Father.  How?  In  every  way  that  they  honor 
the  Father.  How  much?  Just  as  much  and  just  as  fully  as 
they  honor  the  Father.  Thus  Jesus  justifies  himself  in  claim¬ 
ing  equality  with  the  Father.  But  further ;  it  is  impossible  to 
honor  the  Father  without  honoring  the  Son.  We  have  just 
seen  that  “  all  judgment”  has  been  committed  to  the  Son  by 
the  Father  in  order  that  all,  both  men  and  angels,  should  honor 
fhe  Son  as  they  honor  the  Father.  Then  it  is  the  Father’s  will, 
that  all  should  honor  the  Son  as  they  honor  the  Father.  Then 
to  withhold  equal  honor  from  the  Son  is  to  contravene  the  will 
of  the  Father.  But  to  contravene  the  will  of  the  Father  is  dis¬ 
obedience.  To  treat  Christ  as  in  any  way  an  inferior,  is  to 
oppose  the  Father’s  will.  Then  Unitarianism  is  sin.  “He  that 
honoreth  not  the  Son  honoreth  not  the  Father  who  hath  sent 
him,”  says  Christ.  There  is  no  way  of  honoring  God,  of  hon¬ 
oring  the  Almighty  Father,  only  by  believing  in,  and  loving, 
and  obeying  the  “Crucified  One.”  This  is  necessarily  true. 
“For  in  him  (Christ)  “dwelleth  all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


29 


bodily.” — Paul.  If  you  would  honor  the  Godhead,  you  must 
do  so  in  Christ,  for  it  all  dwells  in  him. 

But  let  us  exmine  this  short  sentence,  from  the  apostle  to  the 
Gentiles.  We  quote  it  again :  “  For  in  him  dwelleth  all  the  full¬ 
ness  of  the  Godhead  bodily.”  Col.  ii :  9.  This  is  a  wonderful 
utterance.  We  ought,  with  uncovered  heads  and  with  awe¬ 
stricken  hearts,  to  contemplate  this  wonderfully  sublime  utter¬ 
ance.  Remember  that  Paul,  but  not  only  Paul,  but  that  God  is 
talking  about  his  Son.  Paul  is  writing  under  the  inspiration  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Greek  word  here  rendered  Godhead  is 
theotees.  Its  meaning,  as  defined  by  the  best  authority,  is 
“  divinity,  deity,  godhead.”  It  also  occurs  with  a  little  different 
orthography  in  Rom  i:  20,  being  theiotees  in  that  place,  and  is 
defined  to  mean:  “divinity,  deity,  godhead,  divine  majesty.” 
Now  observe  the  following  facts  in  numerical  order : 

1.  Divinity  dwells  in  Christ.  2.  Deity  dwells  in  Christ.  3. 
The  Godhead  dwells  in  Christ.  4.  The  divine  majesty  dwells  in 
Christ.  5.  The  fullness  of  the  divinity,  of  the  deity,  of  the  God¬ 
head,  of  the  divine  majesty,  dwells  in  Christ.  6.  All  the  fullness 
of  the  divinity,  of  the  deity,  of  the  Godhead,  of  the  divine 
majesty,  dwells  in  Christ.  It  is  not  some,  or  a  part,  or  a  degree 
of  these  things,  but  the  fullness ;  yea,  all  the  fullness  of  divinity, 
deity,  Godhead  dwells  in  Christ.  7.  This  dwelling  is  in  the 
present  tense,  in  the  now,  when  Paul  wrote,  and  belongs  to  the 
present  dispensation.  8.  This  dwelling  is  bodily.  Somatikos , 
bodily,  is  from  soma ,  the  body.  In  the  incarnation,  God  in 
Christ  took  on  human  nature,  took  on  man.  In  his  death  and 
resurrection,  Christ  redeemed  that  incarnate  body  from  the 
dominion  of  death,  and  in  his  ascension  bore  it  away  from  earth, 
and  in  his  glorification  changed  it  from  terrestrial  to  celestial, 
from  mortal  to  immortal,  from  fleshly  to  spiritual.  So  God  in 
Christ  puts  on  man,  and  man  in  Christ  puts  on  God.  In  Christ 
God  and  man  meet,  and  man,  the  sinuer,  made  free  from  his 
sins,  becomes  God’s  child,  and  to  eternal  life  an  heir. 

Let  us  listen  again  to  the  words  of  Jesus,  in  the  fifth  of  John  : 
“  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you;  the  hour  is  coming, and  now  is,, 
when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God  :  and  they 
that  hear  shall  live.  For  as  the  Father  hath  life  in  himselt,  so 
hath  he  given  to  the  Son  to  have  life  in  himself.”  By  the  fiat 

of  his  word,  Jesus  while  on  earth,  raised  the  dead.  When  he 
c 


30 


THE  MOBEBLY  PULPIT. 


spoke  the  words :  “  Talitha,  cumi,  arise !  ”  .  .  .  The  young 
daughter  of  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue  arose  from  the  dead  and 
lived  again.  When  He  said:  “Young  man,  I  say  unto  thee, 
arise ;”  the  son  of  the  widow  of  Nain  was  made  alive  from  the 
dead.  When  “  he  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  Lazarus,  come  forth,” 
Lazarus,  in  his  cold  grave  heard  the  quickening  voice  of  the 
Son  of  God  and  came  up  out  of  the  tomb.  “  The  hour  is  com¬ 
ing,  in  the  which  all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice, 
and  shall  cometorth  ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resur¬ 
rection  of  life ;  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrec¬ 
tion  of  damnation.”  So  says  the  Lord  himself.  No  higher 
power  can  be  exercised  than  that  of  giving  life.  As  infinite 
and  divine  power  was  exercised  in  creating  life  in  the  begin¬ 
ning,  no  less  a  power  can  put  life  into  the  dead.  Divine  power 
only  could  have  spoken  life  into  the  dead  body  of  the  little 
damsel;  and  into  the  lifeless  form  of  the  widow’s  son;  and  into 
the  decaying  flesh  and  bones  of  the  brother  of  heart-broken 
Mary  and  Martha.  It  may  be  objected  that  the  prophets  and 
the  apostles,  in  a  few  cases,  raised  the  dead,  and  that  they  were 
and  are  not  equal  with  God.  True.  But  they  did  not  raise  the 
dead  in  their  own  name  nor  by  their  own  power.  Peter  said  to 
the  lame  man:  “In  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  Nazareth,  rise 
up  and  walk.”  And  he  said  to  the  multitude:  “Be  it  known 
unto  you  all,  and  to  all  the  people  of  Israel,  that  by  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  of  Nazareth,  whom  ye  crucified,  whom  God  raised 
from  the  dead,  even  by  him  doth  this  man  stand  here  before 
you  whole.”  This  is  the  key  to  the  miracles  wrought  by  men. 
They  were  done  in  the  name  and  by  the  power  of  God,  delega¬ 
ted  to  them  for  that  purpose.  But  Jesus  healed  the  sick  in  his 
own  name  and  by  his  own  power.  To  the  dead  girl,  he  said : 
“I  say  unto  thee  arise.”  To  the  widow’s  dead  son,  on  the  road 
to  the  grave,  he  said,  “Young  man,  I  say  unto  thee,  arise.” 
To  Lazarus,  both  dead  and  buried  :  “  with  a  loud  voice,”  he  said, 
“  come  forth.”  He  used  no  name  but  his  own.  As  God  breathed 
the  breath  of  life  into  the  dust-man,  into  the  inanimate  man, 
and  thus  imparted  life  where  before  there  was  no  life,  so  Jesus 
exercising  the  same  divine,  life-giving  power,  spoke  the  word 
and  life  re-entered  into  the  dead  body  of  the  daughter  of  the 
ruler  of  the  synagogue  and  her  young  life  began  anew.  Jesus 
spoke  the  word  and  life  again  entered  the  cold  and  stiffened 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


31 


form  of  the  young  man  of  Nain  ;  the  warm  blood  again  coursed 
its  way  through  his  veins  and  the  mantle  of  ruddy  youth  again 
mounted  to  the  cheeks  of  the  widow’s  son.  Jesus  spoke  the 
word  and  the  decomposition  of  the  body  of  Lazarus  is  instantly 
suspended.  The  normal  condition  of  his  flesh  is  at  once  restored. 
The  nerve  tissues  are  again  electrified  with  liie  and  sensation. 
His  manly  eyes  again  sparkle  with  intelligence  and  brotherly 
love  as  he  looked  into  the  tear-bedewed  countenances  of  hia 
loving  sisters,  Mary  and  Martha. 

Why  did  Jesus  do  this?  How  did  he  do  it?  How  could  he 
do  it?  Because  he  had  life  in  himself  as  the  Father  had  life  in 
himself.  He  had  in  himself  all  grades  of  life.  He  had  all  life 
in  himself,  and,  being  equal  with  God,  he  exercised  the  divine 
prerogative  of  giving  life.  Wherever  and  whenever  he  wills,  he 
gives  life.  When  he  wills  he  will  come  again  and  speak  with  a 
voice  that  all  in  the  grave,  and  in  the  deep,  will  hear,  and  when 
they  hear  that  life-giving  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  they  will 
come  forth.  Not  only  so ;  but  he  gives  spiritual  life  to  every 
sin-sick  soul  that  comes  to  him  in  faith,  in  penitence,  in  obedi¬ 
ence  to  his  will.  Those  who  are  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins, 
in  submission  to  the  gospel,  are  made  alive  unto  God  by  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Now,  let  us  sum  up  the  things  we  have  thus  far  learned  of 
him.  Let  us  enumerate  the  points  of  oneness  between  him  and 
his  Father.  Let  us  count  the  points  of  equality  between  him 
and  God:  1.  We  have  seen  that  he  is  sole  and  infallible  Judge. 
2.  We  have  seen  that  he  is  entitled  to  equal  honor  with  the 
Father,  both  from  men  and  angels.  3.  We  have  seen  that  he, 
equally  with  the  Father,  has  quickening, that  is,  life-giviDg  power. 
4.  We  have  seen  that  he  has  life  inherent,  underived,  within 
himself,  as  well  as  the  Father.  5.  vVe  have  seen  that  he  quick¬ 
ens  the  sinful  heart  of  the  penitent  sinner  in  the  forgiveness  of 
sins.  6.  And,  finally,  we  have  seen  that  “  what  things  soever” 
the  Father  “  doeth,  these  also  doeth  the  Son  likewise.”  This 
amounts  to  perfect  equality,  not  only  in  power  and  wisdom, 
but  also  in  will,  in  purpose,  in  desire,  in  affection.  Well  and 
truly  did  Jesus  say:  “I  and  my  Father  are  one.” 

But  let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  Savior’s  claim  to 
equality  with  God  in  another  direction.  He  claims  equality 
with  God  as  a  Legislator,  not  only  assuming  and  exercising  the 


32 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


right  to  heal  the  diseased  man  at  the  pool  Bethesda,  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  in  violation  of  the  notions  of  propriety  and  right¬ 
eousness  held  by  the  Jews,  but  on  another  Sabbath  day,  when 
his  disciples  were  hungry,  they  went  through  the  fields  of  grain 
not  yet  harvested,  and  plucked  and  did  eat.  This  was  thought 
by  the  Pharisees  to  be  a  grievous  infraction  of  the  law  of 
Moses.  His  first  reply  to  their  chidings  was  sufficient  to  silence 
them,  if  they  had  been  aware  that  consistency  was  then,  as  well 
as  now,  a  jewel.  He  reminded  them  that  David  and  his  sol¬ 
diers,  when  pinched  with  hunger,  ate  the  Shew  bread,  a  thing 
which  was  a  violation  of  the  law.  It  was  not  lawful  for  any  to 
eat  this  bread  except  the  priests.  Yet,  under  the  circumstan¬ 
ces  of  pressing  hunger,  the  Pharisees  themselves  did  not  con¬ 
demn  David  for  eating  sanctified  bread,  contrary  to  the  letter 
of  the  Law.  Then  why  condemn  Christ  for  allowing  his  disci¬ 
ples  to  satisfy  the  gnawings  of  hunger,  to  pluck  a  few  heads 
of  the  ripening  barley  or  wheat  and  rub  out  the  new  grains  in 
their  hands  on  the  Sabbath  day  ?  Then  he  reminded  them  of 
the  fact  that  the  priest  violated  their  slavish  interpretation  of 
the  law  in  preparing  and  making  the  offerings  on  the  Sabbath. 
Then  why  condemn  him  ?  They  were,  to  say  the  least  of  it, 
guilty  of  great  inconsistency. 

But  Christ  makes  two  more  replies  to  their  criticism  of  his 
conduct  on  the  Sabbath  :  ”1.  ‘‘But  I  say  unto  you,  that  in  this 
place  is  one  greater  than  the  temple.”  This  greater  one  is  him¬ 
self.  The  tabernacle  was  built  by  Moses  according  to  a  divine 
pattern,  and  the  temple  was  built  by  Solomon  after  the  same 
model.  The  law  of  God  regulated  the  worship  both  in  the 
tabernacle  and  temple.  Jesus  is  greater  than  Moses  and  greater 
than  Solomon,  greater  than  the  temple.  He  had  as  good  a 
right,  with  his  disciples,  to  vary  from  the  letter  of  the  Law  as 
David  with  his  followers  had,  yet  the  Pharisees  justified  David 
and  condemned  Christ.  He  had  as  good  a  right  to  vary  from 
the  letter  of  the  law  as  had  the  priests,  yet  they  found  no  fault 
with  the  priests,  but  censured  Jesu s.  But  Jesus  utterly  routs 
them  by  asserting  his  superiority  over  the  temple  and  all  con¬ 
nected  with  it.  It  mattered  little  after  all  whether  the  hunger 
of  the  disciples  constituted  an  emergency  equal  to  the  one 
under  which  David  and  the  young  men  with  him  acted  or  not. 
Jesus  himself  being  greater  than  the  temple,  greater  than  the 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


33 


law  governing  the  service  of  the  temple,  had  both  the  right  and 
the  power  to  suspend  the  law,  to  modify  the  law,  to  repeal  the 
law,  and  to  fulfill  the  law.  But  no  power  is  competent  to 
change,  suspend,  or  disannul  the  law  that  is  not  equal  to  the 
power  that  made  the  law.  God  was  the  Lawgiver  who  enacted 
the  law  governing  the  temple  worship.  But  Jesus  claimed  the 
right  to  suspend  the  law  in  this  case.  Then  he  is  equal  with 
God.  To  escape  this  conclusion,  the  objector  would  have  to 
show  that  Christ  made  a  false  claim.  He  would  have  to  show 
that  Jesus  made  a  false  statement  in  saying:  “But  I  say  unto 
you,  that  in  this  place  is  one  greater  than  the  temple.”  But 
that  will  hardly  be  undertaken.  Then  the  Savior,  being  equal 
with  God,  is  divine. 

2.  “  For  the  Son  of  man  is  Lord  even  of  the  Sabbath  day.” 
The  Sabbath  was  an  institution  of  divine  appointment.  The 
observance  of  the  seventh  day  of  the  week  rested  solely  on  the 
authority  of  a  legal  enactment.  It  was  lawful  to  worship  God 
on  that  day,  but  there  were  many  things  unlawful  to  be  done 
on  that  day  that  might  be  lawfully  done  on  other  days.  But 
Jesus  claimed  to  be  Master  of  the  Sabbath,  to  be  greater  than 
the  Sabbath.  This  is  claiming  higher  authority  than  the  law 
that  established  the  Sabbath,  higher  authority  than  the  law 
governing  the  Sabbath.  But  God  enacted  the  law  creating  the 
Sabbath  and  governing  the  Sabbath.  Then  no  power  can  be 
greater,  and  no  authority  higher  than  this  law  and  be  not  at  the 
same  time  equal  with  God.  Then  our  conclusion  is  again 
reached  that  Jesus  the  Christ,  is  divine. 

From  all  the  Scriptures  thus  far  examined  this  morning,  it  is 
certainly  quite  clear  that  the  loving  Savior  thought  himself 
equal  with  God.  He  surely  was  profoundly  impressed  with  the 
idea  that  the  divine  nature  was  in  him.  He  certainly  can  not  be 
charged  with  being  self-deceived.  It  takes  a  bold  skeptic 
indeed  to  assume  that.  On  the  other  hand,  can  it  be  said  that 
he  knowingly  made  false  pretensions?  No  intelligent  infidel 
will  undertake  to  establish  that. 

We  will  occupy  the  remainder  of  our  time  this  morning,  in 
candidly  and  carefully  examining  a  few  Scriptures,  that  some 
people  have  thought  to  contradict  the  position  that  we  have 
maintained  in  this,  and  the  preceding  discourse.  Remember 
that  our  theme  is  the  Divine  Nature  of  Christ.  All  that  con- 


34 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


trovert  the  position  already  argued,  undertake  to  show  that 
Christ  is  in  some  sense  a  creature,  that  he  is  inferior  to  the 
Father.  Paul  says  that  he  “  is  the  first-born  of  every  creature.’^ 
Paul  uses  this  language,  Col.  i:  15.  The  strength  of  the  Unita¬ 
rian  position,  if  it  has  any  strength,  is  the  inference  drawn  from 
this  language  that  Christ  is  a  creature.  It  is  said  that  “  the  first¬ 
born  of  every  creature  ”  must  be  a  creature.  To  prove  that 
Paul  himselt  did  not  even  believe  that  he  was  a  creature  and 
did  not  mean  to  say  it,  we  have  only  to  quote  this  same  passage 
more  fully.  Hear  him :  “  Who  is  the  image  of  the  invisible  God, 
the  first-born  of  every  creature,  for  by  him  were  all  things  cre¬ 
ated,  that  are  in  heaven  and  that  are  in  earth,  visible  and  invisi¬ 
ble.”  It  is  an  absurdity  to  call  the  Creator  a  creature.  And 
yet  every  man  perpetrates  that  absurdity,  who  engrafts  Unita- 
rianism  on  this  passage.  The  reason  assigned  for  calling  him 
“  the  first-born  of  every  creature,”  is  that  “  by  him  were  all 
things  created.”  The  word  first-born  is  explained  further  in  the 
seventeenth  verse :  “And  he  is  before  all  things  and  by  him  all 
things  consist.”  He  is  older  than  any  created  thing.  Then 
being  the  first-born  of  every  creature  does  not  mean  that  him¬ 
self  is  a  creature,  that  he  was  created  first.  It  can  not  mean 
that  without  contradicting  the  very  next  sentence  in  the  same 
period,  “for  by  him  were  all  things  created.”  Paul  goes  onr 
“And  he  is  the  head  of  the  body,  the  Church ;  who  is  the  begin¬ 
ning,  the  first-born  from  the  dead,  that  in  all  things  he  might 
have  the  pre-eminence,  for  it  pleased  the  Father  that  in  him 
should  all  fullness  dwell.”  Pre-eminence,  superiority,  fullness,, 
completeness,  are  the  things  aimed  at  in  this  struggle  of  words 
to  express  to  the  human  understanding,  the  grandeur  and  sub¬ 
limity  of  the  character  of  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son  of  man. 
Instead  of  reducing  him  to  the  rank  of  a  creature,  just  the 
reverse  is  aimed  at  by  the  apostle  in  his  wrestling  with  ideas  of 
eternity  and  infinity. 

“Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  the  Son  can  do  nothing  of 
himself,  but  what  he  seeth  the  Father  do.”  This  quotation  cuts 
a  sentence  in  two.  And  by  this  violent  procedure  some  men 
think  that  they  prove  Christ  to  be  an  inferior.  But  these 
words  prove  just  the  reverse,  when  taken  in  their  proper  con¬ 
nection.  This  language  is  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  John  and  used 
by  the  Savior  to  the  Jews  when  they  sought  to  kill  him  for 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


35~> 


making  himself  equal  with  God.  It  is  a  part  of  his  defense 
against  their  persecutions.  We  have  already  seen  that  he  did 
make  himself  equal  with  God.  Yet  he  does  it  with  heavenly 
modesty.  He  exalts  the  Father  as  highly  as  the  Jews  could 
have  asked.  “The  Son  can  do  nothing  himself,  but  what  he 
seeth  the  Father  do,”  taken  out  of  its  connection,  might  be- 
easily  construed  into  an  acknowledgment  of  inferiority,  by  a 
superficial  thinker.  But  why  this  statement?  Why  could  he 
do  nothing  of  himself?  Simply  for  the  reason  that  he  is  “  equal 
with  God.”  If  he  were  an  inferior,  if  he  were  a  mere  crea¬ 
ture,  he  could  have  done  a  thousand  things  of  himself.  A  sinful 
man  can  do  many  things  of  himself.  Every  sinner  does  all  his 
wickedness  of  himself.  Certainly  God  does  not  have  any  part 
in  a  wicked  mans  conduct.  If  Christ  had  done  any  thing  of 
himself,  any  thing  not  according  to  his  Father’s  will,  any  thing 
independently  of  his  Father,  that  would  have  overturned  his 
claim  to  equality  with  God.  But  being  with  the  Father  equally 
wise,  equally  loving,  equally  just,  equally  divine,  equally  mer¬ 
ciful,  and,  both,  being  absolutely  infinite,  there  could  be  no  con¬ 
flict  between  them.  There  could  be  no  separate  action.  In 
creation  and  in  redemption,  from  all  eternity  to  all  eternity, 
they  have  acted  and  will  act  in  unity  and  not  separately. 

Now  let  us  quote  the  whole  statement  at  the  expense  of  a  lit¬ 
tle  repetition:  “Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  the  Son  can  do 
nothing  of  himself,  but  what  he  seeth  the  Father  do :  for  what 
things  soever  he  doeth,  these  also  doeth  the  Son  likewise.”  We 
have  before  considered  the  latter  half  of  this  Scripture.  But 
we  quote  it  here  to  show  the  correctness  of  the  exegesis  just 
given  of  the  first  half  of  it.  We  also  ask  your  attention  to 
another  feature  of  these  words  of  the  Savior.  Take  notice,  partic¬ 
ular  notice,  to  two  clear  statements  in  this  language:  1.  That 
Jesus  says  he  can  do  nothing  except  what  he  sees  tho  Father  do. 
2.  With  equal  clearness,  he  says:  “What  things  soever”  the 
Father  does  the  Son  does  also.  Now  put  these  two  statements 
together  and  it  is  as  clear  as  the  noonday  sun  that  Jesus  sees  all 
that  the  Father  does.  To  finite  beings,  the  ways  of  God  are  past 
findiug  out,  but  to  Jesus  they  are  all  open.  To  him  they  are  all 
well  known.  To  his  eye  they  are  all  visible.  He  does  them  all 
too.  If  we  had  no  other  proof,  this  of  itself  establishes  his 
divine  nature. 


36 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


“I  can  of  mine  own  self  do  nothing.”  This  is  part  of  the 
same  conversation  with  the  Jews.  It  is  true,  as  we  have  seen, 
because  he  and  the  Father  are  one,  are  unitv.  In  the  nature  of 
things  there  can  not  be  two  conflicting  infinities.  There 
may  be  any  number  of  finite  beings  in  conflict  with  one  another. 
The  finite  may,  for  a  time,  wage  a  hopeless  warfare  with  the 
infinite,  but  two,  or  more,  infinities  in  conflict,  or  separate,  or 
independent  of  each  other,  are  an  absurdity.  God  is  infinite. 
Jesus  is  equal  with  God.  Then  Jesus  is  infinite.  This  is  an 
absurdity  if  they  act  separately.  But  it  is  good  sense  and 
eternal  truth  as  Jesus  puts  it.  He  says :  “  I  and  my  Father  are 
one.”  This  will  explain  the  seeming  inferiority  of  the  Son. 
All  such  expressions  as  those  we  have  considered,  that  to  the 
superficial  mind,  seem  to  indicate  that  our  elder  Brother  is,  or 
was  an  inferior,  was  a  creature,  when  we  dig  down  a  little 
beneath  the  surface,  show  him  to  be  divine,  and  eternal  and 
infinite. 

Yet,  with  all  that  there  is,  in  infinite  power,  wisdom,  good¬ 
ness,  love,  and  mercy,  the  Son  of  God  came  on  a  mission  of 
love  and  of  mercy  to  this  world  of  sin  and  death  and  for  a  time 
suffered,  and  hungered,  and  thirsted,  and  was  tempted,  and 
sorrowed,  and  wept,  and  finally  died,  not  for  his  own  sake,  but 
for  our  sakes.  He  puts  forth  infinite  power,  not  in  the  storm 
cloud,  not  in  the  thunder  bolt,  not  in  the  earthquake,  notin  the 
frightful  cyclone,  but  in  the  gentle  wooings  of  divine  love  and 
mercy  he  appeals  to  our  hearts.  He  offers  to  us  the  infinite  love 
of  his  great  heart,  and  only  asks  that  we  allow  him  a  place  in 
our  hearts.  Do  we  have  a  responsive  affection  for  him  in  our 
souls  to-day,  brethren?  Are  we  keeping  his  commandments? 
In  a  few  moments  we  shall  engage  in  the  solemn  duty  of  cele¬ 
brating  his  death.  But  does  our  faith  lay  hold  of  the  mighty 
fact  that  we  commemorate?  Do  we  gather  the  truth  that  the 
eternal,  infinite  one  came  condescendingly  down  to  us  because 
he  loved  us?  Do  we  realize,  that  to  rescue  us  from  sin,  and  from 
death,  he  clothed  himself  in  our  nature,  poured  out  his  blood 
as  an  offering  for  our  sins,  and  then  entered  into  the  dominions 
of  death,  fought  our  battle  with  “  the  kiDg  of  terrors,”  and 
won  for  us  the  victory  over  the  prince  of  darkness?  Let  us, 
beloved  brethren,  at  this  solemn  moment,  look  down  into  our 
own  souls,  examine  the  motives  of  our  hearts,  bid  deceit,  hate, 


THE  DIVINE  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


37 


and  the  care  of  this  world  depart,  and  let  the  King  of  kings 
have  full  possession  at  this  solemn  moment.  Let  not  the  world 
intrude  now ! 

But  there  are  many  of  our  friends  who  have  not  yet  accepted 
of  the  divine  Savior;  who  have  never  confessed  his  name 
Before  men;  who  have  not  been  ‘‘baptized  into  his  death;” 
who  are  yet  in  their  sins;  who  are  yet  under  condemnation. 
We  turn  to  you,  now,  and  appeal  to  you,  “to  flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come.”  If  death  were  to  come  to-day,  he  would  find 
you  unprepared,  and  your  precious  souls  would  be  lost  forever. 
Will  you  go  on  in  sin,  walking  in  the  broad  road  that  leads 
down  to  death?  Is  your  soul  burdened  to-day  with  the  guilt 
of  sin?  The  loving  Savior  says:  “Come  unto  me  all  ye  that 
labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  my 
yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me ;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in 
heart:  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls,  for  my  yoke  is 
easy  and  my  burden  is  light.  Will  you  accept  the  Savior's 
invitation?  While  the  brethren  sing : 


“  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood,” 
we  ask  you,  in  his  name,  to  come ! 


SERMON  III, 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST, 

Preached  Lord’s  Day,  April  11, 1880. 


Text. — “He  took  not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels:  but  he  took  on> 
him  the  seed  of  Abraham.” — Heb.  ii:  16. 

My  Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters  : 

As  the  two  preceding1  discourses  were  devoted  to  the  study 
of  the  divine  nature  of  Christ,  we  devote  our  lime  this  morning 
to  the  study  of  his  human  nature.  In  our  first  discourse  we 
learned  and  proved  that  he  was  divinity  and  humanity  united, 
that  he  was  and  is  God,  in  man,  as  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures,  in 
styling  him  Emmanuel.  If  he  were  only  divine  it  would  be  im¬ 
possible  for  us  to  be  saved  from  sin  and  death;  and  if  he  were 
only  human  our  salvation  would  be  an  impossibility.  The 
phrase,  “Son  of  God,”  is  applied  to  him  very  frequently,  and  the 
phrase,  “  Son  of  man,”  is  applied  to  him  with  equal  frequency. 
If  it  were  not  true  that  he  was,  and  is,  possessed  of  both 
natures,  these  two  phraseologies  would  not  be,  and  could  not 
be  applied  to  him  as  they  are.  The  whole  tenor  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  is  to  the  effect  that  he  is  both  divine  and  human.  But, 
this  morning,  it  is  our  business  to  look  at  the  human  side  of 
Christ.  But,  while  we  do  this,  we  abate  not  one  “jot  or  tittle” 
from  his  perfect  divinity  already  set  forth. 

Whoever  will  carefully,  and  candidly,  and  thoroughly  study 
Matt,  i :  18-25  and  Luke  i :  34,  35,  must  be  convinced  that  the 
divine  and  human  were  united  in  his  conception.  There  was 
in  his  conception,  in  his  birth,  in  his  life,  in  his  death,  in  his  res¬ 
urrection,  and  in  his  glorification,  and  still  continues  to  be  in 
his  reign,  a  perfect  union  of  human  nature  and  divine  nature, 

in  all  their  completeness  and  entirety  and  perfection.  Let  us 
38 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


39 


trace  his  earthly  childhood’s  history,  taking  all  the  known 
events  of  his  child  life  on  earth : 

1.  He  was  horn  of  the  virgin  Mary,  in  Bethlehem.  Matt,  ii : 
1 ;  Luke  ii :  6,  7. 

2.  A  host  of  angels  came  from  heaven  to  earth  and  announced 
his  birth  to  Jewish  shepherds  by  night.  Luke  ii :  8-14. 

3.  The  shepherds  went  to  Bethlehem  and  saw  the  babe  in  the 
manger.  Luke  ii :  15-20. 

4.  He  was  circumcised  on  the  eighth  day,  according  to  the 
law  of  Moses.  Luke  ii:  21.  His  name  was  called  Jesus  at  the 
same  time. 

5.  When  he  was  forty  days  old  he  was  taken  to  Jerusalem  and 
presented  to  the  Lord  in  due  form,  in  the  temple,  according  to 
the  law.  Luke  ii :  22-24 ;  Exodus  xiii :  2 ;  Lev.  xii :  2-8. 

6.  While  in  the  temple,  Simeon,  an  old  man,  under  the  inspi¬ 
ration  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  took  him  up  in  his  arms  and  blessed 
God.  Under  the  impulse  of  the  Spirit  he  recognized  the  Christ 
in  the  babe  of  the  manger,  then,  forty  days  in  the  flesh.  Anna, 
an  aged  prophetess,  likewise  recognized  him  as  the  Christ. 
Luke  ii :  25-38. 

7.  Next  came  the  wise  men,  learned  men  from  the  East  to 
Jerusalem,  having  seen  a  star  that  signified  to  them  that  a  king 
of  the  Jews  was  born.  They,  finally,  guided  by  the  star,  found 
him,  and  Joseph  and  Mary,  in  Bethlehem.  They  both  wor¬ 
shiped  him,  and  gave  him  costly  gifts.  Matt,  ii :  1-12. 

8.  Joseph  warned  of  God  of  Herod’s  wrath,  fled  with  him  and 
his  mother  into  Egypt.  Matt,  ii :  13. 

9.  He  dwelt  in  Egypt  until  after  Herod’s  death.  Matt,  ii :  14, 15. 

10.  God  notified  Joseph  of  the  death  of  Herod,  and  he  returned 
with  the  child  and  his  mother  from  Egypt.  Matt,  ii :  19-21. 

11.  The  family  residence,  after  the  return  from  Egypt  was  in 
Nazareth  and  not  Bethlehem.  Matt,  ii :  22,  23 ;  Luke  ii :  39. 

12.  At  twelve  years  of  age  he  went  with  Joseph  and  Mary  to 
Jerusalem  to  the  feast  of  the  Passover,  and  lingered  in  the  tem¬ 
ple,  talking  with  the  Doctors  and  astonished  them  with  his  supe¬ 
rior  wisdom.  Indeed  he  astonished  all  who  heard  him.  Luke 
ii:  41-51. 

This  is  the  consecutive  history  of  his  childhood,  as  far  as  it  is 
possible  for  us  to  know  it.  Any  thing  more  than  this  is  tho 
invention  of  cunning  priests  or  wild  guess-work.  In  the  child 


40 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


himself,  all  the  human  nature  that  is  seen  in  other  children,  was 
also  seen.  In  the  star,  in  God’s  warning  to  the  wise  men,  in 
God’s  warning  to  J oseph,  in  the  angelic  visit  to  the  shepherds  is 
seen,  very  clearly,  that  God  and  angels  are  taking  a  very  special 
interest  in  him.  A  superhuman  future  is  portended  for  him  in 
the  prophecies  of  Simeon  and  Anna,  in  the  temple.  But  these 
prophecies  were  the  result  of  the  impulse  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
prophet,  and  prophetess,  and  not  in  any  thing  seen  in  the  babe 
hy  human  wisdom  or  foresight.  This  is  put  forth  so  clearly  by 
Luke,  that  mistake  is  hardly  possible.  At  the  age  of  twelve  he 
did  once  manifest  remarkable  wi  sdom.  Aside  from  this,  his  child 
life,  as  far  as  we  know  or  can  know  it  in  this  life,  was  as  human 
as  other  children's  lives.  But  after  this,  both  his  human  nature 
and  divine  nature  are  exhibited  in  everything  he  said  and  every¬ 
thing  he  did.  Sometimes  one  standing  out  more  prominently, 
sometimes  the  other.  But  neither  nature  is  almost  never 
pntirely  out  of  sight,  to  the  thinking  mind.  So  that  when  we 
study  one  nature  the  other  is  always  present,  and  we  can  not 
separate  them.  Luke  adds  that  “Jesus  increased  in  stature  and 
in  favor  with  God  and  man.”  He  had  before  stated  that  he 
went  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Nazareth  with  Joseph  and  Mary, 
and  was  subject  to  them. 

We  have  no  further  account  of  him  until  he  was  thirty  years 
of  age.  About  eighteen  years  of  his  earth-life  are  wholly 
unknown  to  us,  only  that  he  dwelt  in  Nazareth.  At  thirty  we 
see  him  baj/tized  by  John  in  the  river  Jordan.  Here  we  have 
an  opportunity  to  study  his  nature.  John’s  baptism  was  for 
men,  for  human  beings.  Jesus  acknowledged  his  human  nature 
in  coming  to  it.  But  John's  baptism  was  for  sinners,  and  for 
that  reason  John  refused  at  first  to  baptize  Jesus.  John 
demanded  repentance  of  those  whom  he  baptized.  They  con¬ 
fessed  their  sins.  John  refused  to  baptize  Jesus  on  the  ground 
that  Jesus  was  better  than  himself.  He  said :  “I  have  need  to 
be  baptized  of  thee,  and  comest  thou  to  me?”  Nothing  is 
clearer  thau  that  John  regarded  Jesus,  not  as  a  sinner,  but  as 
one  needing  no  repentance,  no  confession  of  sin  and  no  baptism. 
If  John  were  mistaken  Jesus  left  him  in  mistake.  But  he  was 
not  mistaken.  Jesus  was  not  a  sinner.  He  had  done  no  wicked 
act,  spoken  no  wicked  word,  and  entertained  no  wicked  thought. 
He  manifested  no  penitence.  He  did  not  repent  for  the  reason 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


41 


he  hid  done  no  wrong-  of  which  to  repent.  He  did  not  then, 
nor  did  he  at  any  time,  confess  any  sins.  How,  then,  can  it  be 
true  that  he  is  perfectly  human  and  not  a  sinner?  We  see  all 
other  men  sin.  We  answer  first,  that  had  he  sinned  once,  only 
once,  that  would  have  overturned  his  claim  to  the  divine  nature, 
to  oneness  with  the  Father.  God  does  not  sin.  God  is  infinite 
in  goodness,  and  never  has  sinned,  and  never  will  sin.  If  Jesus 
had  sinned  once  that  would  have  proved  that  he  was  not  infinite 
in  goodness,  and,  consequently,  not  equal  with  God.  It  is  clear 
to  any  one  that  the  diviue  Being  will  not  sin,  and  that  Jesus, 
possessed  of  the  divine  nature  in  its  fullness  and  in  its  entirety, 
did  not,  and  will  not,  sin.  But  human  nature  is  popularly  said 
to  be  totally  depraved,  necessarily,  naturally  sinful.  This  is  an 
error.  If  it  were  true,  there  could  be  no  salvation.  If  it  were 
true,  then  Christ  could  not,  and  would  not  have  taken  our 
nature  upon  him.  If  human  nature  is  necessarily  sinful,  then 
whoever  has  that  nature  is  naturally  sinful,  naturally  a  sinner. 
But  God  is  the  Author  of  our  being,  the  Maker,  the  Creator  of 
our  nature,  and  if  our  nature  is  necessarily  and  essentially  sin¬ 
ful,  then  there  is  no  escape  from  the  position  that  God  himself 
is  sinful.  But  that  will  not  be  admitted,  ought  not  to  be 
admitted,  because  it  is  not  true.  Then  the  contrary  has  to  be 
admitted,  and  is  true,  that  God  created  human  nature  sinless. 

Sin  is  a  parasite  that  has  fastened  upon  human  nature,  and  is, 
and  has  been,  from  the  time  of  the  fall,  preying  upon  it,  cor¬ 
rupting,  debasing,  and  killing  it.  As  the  mistletoe  that  fastens 
upon  the  oak  is  not  the  oak,  so  sin,  that  fastens  itself  on  human 
nature  and  saps  the  life  out  of  it,  is  not  human  nature.  As  the 
parasitic  insects  that  prey  upon  an  animal  body  and  suck  the 
life  blood  out  of  it,  are  not  that  animal  itself,  so  sin  is  not  the 
human  nature  on  which  it  preys.  Before  the  fall  man  was  not 
a  sinner.  But  Adam  possessed  all  there  is  in  human  nature 
before  he  sinned.  But  in  the  fall,  sin  with  all  its  direful  conse¬ 
quences,  fastened  upon  him.  But  when  Christ  took  upon  him¬ 
self  our  nature  in  its  entirety,  he  no  more  became  a  sinner  than 
one  would  become  mistletoe  who  becomes  an  oak. 

Christ  did  take  upon  himself  all  that  is  essentially  human,  but 
that  did  not  include  sin.  Adam  was  all  that  was  essentially 
human  before  he  became  a  sinner.  Christ  was,  then,  in  his 
human  nature  all  that  Adam  was  before  he  sinned.  All  that 


42 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


he  could,  and  all  that  he  did,  take  upon  himself,  without  com¬ 
promising  the  divine  nature. 

Now  let  us  examine  the  paradisical  state  of  man,  and  thus 
learn  what  is  essentially  human  nature.  We  can  only  do  this  to 
the  extent  that  it  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  Scriptures,  and  as  it  is 
exampled  to  us  in  the  person  of  Adam  and  Eve.  To  study 
human  nature,  we  direct  attention  to  the  first  human  pair  in 
Eden :  1.  They  were  not  sinful,  were  not  sinners,  for  Moses 
says,  in  immediate  connection  with  the  creation  of  the  first 
human  pair:  “And  God  saw  everything  that  he  had  made,  and 
behold  it  was  very  good.”  Then  sin,  as  we  have  been  arguing, 
is  not  a  part  of  their  nature.  Then,  when  Christ  took  upon 
himself  human  nature  in  its  essentiality,  he  took  upon  him  that 
which  “was  very  good.”  2.  They  were  possessed  of  material 
bodies  of  flesh  and  blood.  When  God’s  Son  became  a  man,  he 
too  took  upon  himself  a  body  of  flesh  and  blood.  3.  They  were 
susceptible  of  temptation.  Th  at  is  to  say,  they  could  be  tempted. 
So  could  Jesus  be  tempted.  They  were  tempted.  So  was  he. 
Being  tempted  is  not  sin.  Proof:  “For  we  have  not  an  high 
priest  who  can  not  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirm¬ 
ities  :  but  was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without 
sin.”  Heb.  iv:  15.  In  the  Greek  of  this  verse  there  is  nothing 
to  correspond  with  the  word  yet.  It  was  inserted  by  the  king’s 
translators.  The  Greek  says  that  Christ  “was  in  all  points 
tempted  like  as  we  are  without  sin.”  Then  temptation  is  not 
necessarily  sinful.  If  so  Christ  sinned,  for  he  was  tempted  in  all 
points.  But  it  is  expressly  stated  that  it  was  without  sin.  It 
is  also  stated  that  he  was  tempted  like  we  are.  Adam’s  sin  did 
not  consist  in  being  tempted.  Our  sins  do  not  consist  in  being 
tempted.  4.  The  power  of  choice  is  an  essential  element  of 
human  nature.  The  original  human  pair  had  the  right  to 
ehoose  whether  they  would  yield  to  the  temptation  or  resist  it 
and  obey  God.  They  exercised  the  right  and  the  ability  of 
choosing.  They  chose  to  eat  the  forbidden  fruit  and  ate  it. 
This  was  disobedience ;  this  was  sin.  Christ  also  exercised  the 
right  of  choice.  But  he -chose  to  resist  the  temptation,  and  he 
did  not  sin.  Adam  and  Eve  could  have  chosen  differently.  So 
with  us,  we  could  do  differently  when  we  allow  ourselves  to  be 
led  away.  The  power  to  do  wrong  could  not  exist  without  the 
power  to  do  right.  5.  Man,  in  the  first  place,  was  capable  of 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


43 


doing.  Hence  the  tree  of  life  was  placed  in  the  Garden  and  he 
was  allowed  to  eat  of  it  and  “live  forever.”  So  when  Jesus 
became  a  man  he  too  took  upon  him  a  body  like  Adam’s  that 
could  die.  6.  Man  was  made  to  obey  God,  made  able  to  obey. 
Obedience  to  God  was  his  normal  condition  and  his  duty  even 
in  Eden.  So  when  our  Lord  took  upon  him  our  nature  he 
accepted  the  obligation  to  obey. 

So  when  Jesus  came  to  John  and  “John  forbade  him,  saying, 
I  have  need  to  de  baptized  of  thee,  and  comest  thou  to  me?” 
he  did  not  say  I  am  a  sinner,  I  confess  my  sins,  I  repent ;  nor 
did  he  offer  any  evidence  of  repentance,  or  “bring  forth  fruits 
meet  for  repentance,”  but  said:  “Suffer  it  to  be  so  now;  for 
thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill  all  righteousness.”  The  man 
Christ  Jesus  was  a  Jew.  John’s  baptism  was,  with  the  Jews, 
mandatory,  and  as  Jesus  was  a  Jew  in  his  earth-life  it  was 
mandatory  to  him,  and  it  was  his  duty  to  obey  it,  though  he 
had  no  sins  to  be  forgiven.  He  was  obedient  to  the  authority 
of  God.  Just  as  soon  as  he  rendered  obedience,  the  Father  in 
heaven  acknowledged  him :  “  So,  the  heavens  were  opened  unto 
him,  and  he  saw  the  Spirit  of  God  descending  like  a  dove,  and 
lighting  upon  him,  and  lo,  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  this  is 
my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased.”  This  act  of  obe¬ 
dience  on  his  part  was  an  earnest  of  what  his  entire  earthly 
ministry  would  be.  In  this  act  of  simple  obedience,  there  was 
a  pledge  of  obedience  unto  death  itself. 

But  Jesus  took  upon  him  our  nature  under  the  unfavorable 
circumstances  in  which  sin  had  involved  us.  We  had  been  for 
centuries  and  ages  debarred  access  to^the  tree  of  life.  Count¬ 
less  millions  of  our  race  had  already  gone  down,  consigning 
their  bodies  to  the  dust  and  their  souls  to  the  unseen  world. 
All  then  living  and  to  come  after  them  were  going  on  in  one 
countless  army  down  to  death.  Jesus  accepts  and  takes  upon 
him  our  nature  under  these  unfavorable  circumstances.  When 
the  sentence  had  passed  upon  all  the  race  :  “Dust  thou  art  and 
unto  dust  shalt  thou  return,”  he  accepted  the  situation  and 
became  dust  too.  When  Jesus  came,  a  tender  babe  in  Bethle¬ 
hem,  the  whole  race  had  an  inheritance  of  death.  Jesus 
accepted  our  inheritance  in  all  its  parts.  He  took  upon  him 
our  flesh  with  its  appetites  depraved  and  perverted.  He 


44 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


accepted  our  dying  condition.  He  died  our  death  of  the  body 
in  a  most  aggravating  and  excruciating  form. 

He  took  upon  him  our  inheritance  from  Adam.  But  did  that 
inheritance  include  actual  sin?  We  answer  that  it  did  not.  If 
it  did,  then  Jesus  was  a  sinner.  But  that  he  did  not  sin,  is  the 
unequivocal  statement  of  Scripture.  Let  us  see  whether,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  sin  could  he  a  matter  of  inheritance.  What 
is  sin?  “Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law.”  So  testifies  the 
inspired  apostle.  Sin  is  an  act,  a  thing  done.  But  can  an  act 
he  an  inheritance?  It  cannot.  Let  us  illustrate.  Sin,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  the  actual  violation  of  law.  The  law  of  Missouri 
forbids  theft,  and  every  one  who  steals  is  a  sinner  against 
the  State.  The  State  has  not  only  the  right,  hut  ought  to  pun¬ 
ish  the  thief,  ought  to  punish  the  sinner.  But  can  the  State 
punish  the  children  and  the  grandchildren  and  the  great 
grandchildren,  and  all  the  descendants  of  the  thief  for 
a  thousand  generations?  If  they  are  all  thieves  the  State 
ought  to  punish  them.  But  if  they  he  not  thieves  it  is 
quite  clear  that  the  State  can  not  and  ought  not  to  punish 
them.  But  all  will  agree  that  the  child  is  not  guilty  of 
the  theft  that  his  father  committed.  The  fathers  thievish 
example,  the  father’s  had  influence  may  lead  the  child  to  com¬ 
mit  the  crime  of  theft.  But  it  is  never  punishable,  because 
never  guilty,  for  the  crime  of  theft,  until  it  has  committed  the 
crime  by  its  own  act.  The  child  may  and  does  inherit  the 
bodily  health  and  condition  of  the  parent.  He  inherits  the 
passions  and  disposition  of  mind  of  the  parent.  A  drunkard’s 
child  inherits  the  father’s  appetite  for  strong  drink.  But  if  the 
son  controls  that  appetite  and  never  indulges  it,  he  will  never 
be  a  drunkard  and  will  never  be  guilty  of  the  sin  of  drunken¬ 
ness.  While,  then,  the  child  has  entailed  upon  it  the  depraved 
appetite  of  its  father,  it  does  not  and  can  not  directly  inherit 
its  father’s  sin,  its  lather’s  guilt,  and  is  not  held  accountable  for 
its  father. 

In  just  such  a  way  as  that  we  stand  related  to  Adam.  He 
ate  the  forbidden  fruit  with  his  wife  in  Eden,  and  transgressed 
the  law  of  God,  and  he  and  Eve  in  that  act  became  sinners  and 
punishable  with  the  penalty  due  to  sin.  That  penalty  was 
death.  Adam  and  Eve  died  because  of  that  sin.  It  was  a 
plain  transgression  of  the  law,  and  the  law  said:  “In  the  day 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


45 


thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die.”  The  law  made  no 
other  provision  for  the  sinner  than  to  suffer  the  penalty.  In 
this  case  the  penalty  is  death.  This  is  a  law  of  universal  enact¬ 
ment.  It  has  never  been  repealed.  It  is  in  force  to-day.  Death 
is  still  the  penalty  of  sin  against  God.  But  this  makes  it  neces¬ 
sary  to  ask  the  questions :  What  is  life  ?  What  is  death  ?  We 
can  not  exhaustively  answer  these  questions,  for  the  reason 
that  life,  like  God,  has  to  do  with  eternity  and  infinity ;  and 
death,  being  the  exact  reverse  of  life,  has  also  to  do  with  eter¬ 
nity.  But  we  can  know  something  about  them.  We  can  not 
now  enter  into  an  investigation  of  these  two  terms.  But  we 
can  have  before  our  minds  a  few  well  settled  considerations 
concerning  them.  Life  is  well  known  to  be  always  associated 
with  organization.  Life  is  always  found  where  there  is  union, 
where  parts  or  members  are  properly  associated  together. 
Break  down  the  organization,  dissever  the  union  and  death 
reigns  where  life  was.  Dismember  the  parts  of  a  body  and  it 
becomes  a  dead  body.  Sever  a  branch  from  a  tree  and  the  dis¬ 
severed  branch  is  dead.  Amputate  a  limb  from  the  human 
body  and  the  limb  is  dead.  In  any  way  break  up  the 
organization  of  any  body  and  the  whole  body  is  dead.  Death 
then  is  disruption,  disunion,  disorganization,  separation.  A 
man  can  die  only  in  the  senses  in  which  he  lives.  In  Eden 
Adam  lived  in  two  senses  at  least:  1.  He  enjoyed  union  and 
communion  with  God.  God  talked  with  him  face  to  face,  so  to 
speak,  and  God  said  that  the  man  was  ‘-'very  good.”  But  God 
is  Spirit,  and  any  union  that  any  man  enjoys  with  him  is  a  union 
of  spirits.  But  such  a  union  is  spirit-life.  Such  a  life  Adam 
and  Eve  enjoyed  in  the  Garden  before  the  fall.  But  sin  entered 
and  corrupted  the  human  spirit,  and  there  was,  at  once,  a  sepa¬ 
ration  of  the  human  spirit  from  the  divine  Spirit.  This  was 
spiritual  separation,  spiritual  disruption,  spirit  severed 
from  Spirit.  This  is  the  length  and  breadth,  the  height 
and  depth  of  spiritual  death.  This  is  the  death  described 
by  Paul  when  to  the  Ephesians  he  says:  “You  hath  he 
quickened  who  were  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins.” 
This  death  Adam  and  Eve  both  died  when  they  ate 
the  forbidden  fruit.  This  death  every  sinner  dies  when  he 
becomes  a  sinner  by  committing  “  The  transgression  of  the 
law.”  God  and  Adam  were  now  apart;  sin  had  separated 
d 


46 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


Adam's  spirit  from  God’s  Spirit.  Adam's  spirit  is  not  blotted 
out,  is  not  annihilated,  has  not  ceased  to  be.  But  it  is  separa¬ 
ted  from  God  and  destitute  of  all  the  honors,  all  the  happiness 
and  all  the  glory  that  was  his  by  virtue  of  union  with  God. 
2.  But  Adam  lived  also  a  bodily  life.  But  after  he  sinned,  God 
put  him  out  of  Eden,  and  put  a  flaming  sword,  that  turned  in 
every  direction,  about  the  tree  of  life,  for  the  avowed  purpose 
of  preventing  him,  now  that  he  had  become  a  sinner,  from  eat¬ 
ing  of  the  tree  of  life  and  living  forever.  JHence  his  body  was 
allowed  to  wear  out  by  time,  by  toil,  by  accident,  by  disease 
and  die. 

All  Adam’s  children  are  born  outside  of  Eden,  and  they  can 
not  approach  to  and  partake  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  of’  course 
must  all  die  the  death  of  the  body.  Not  one  single  member  of 
the  human  race  partook  of  the  forbidden  tree  except  Adam 
and  Eve.  This  was  the  original  sin,  so  far  as  man  is  concerned. 
The  first  pair,  only,  are  directly  guilty  of  it.  But  by  this  sin 
they  lost  their  paradisical  home,  and,  with  it,  the  power  of 
perpetuating  the  life  that  now  is.  Their  children  then  are,  by 
inheriting  this  loss  of  Eden  and  this  loss  of  the  tree  of  life, 
subjected  to  the  death  of  the  body  with  all  the  pangs  and  woes 
attending  it.  Let  us  illustrate:  Suppose  a  man  possessed  of  a 
beautiful  home,  a  rich  estate,  and  plenty  of  money,  should 
engage  in  gambling  and  riotous  living,  and  lose  all  his  money 
and  even  gamble  away  his  house.  His  wife  and  little  children 
would  be  turned  out  of  doors  and  thus  be  rendered  homeless. 
In  such  a  case  would  the  children  be  guilty  of  the  sin  of  gamb¬ 
ling?  Certainly  not.  But  would  they  not  suffer  the  penalty  of 
gambling?  They  would,  to  the  extent  of  the  loss  of  home  and 
the  pleasures  that  it  afforded.  Now,  suppose  that  there  had 
been  in  that  home  a  tree  of  life,  the  fruit  of  which  would  per¬ 
petuate  their  lives  forever.  But  when  the  father  mortgaged 
away  the  home  and  all  that  appertained  to  it,  this  tree  of  life 
would  go  with  the  estate.  In  law  the  children  are  represented 
by  the  father.  In  the  father  they  representatively  sign  away 
their  right  to  home,  and  in  such  a  case  their  life.  The  father, 
in  such  a  case,  sins  in  his  own  person,  is  guilty  of  serious  fault. 
The  children  have  only  siuued  representatively.  They  could 
not  help  it,  yet  it  lost  them  home,  lost  them  honor  and  lost  them 
life.  In  this  sense  it  is  that  Paul  says:  “Wherefore,  as  by  one 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


47 


man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin;  and  so  death 
passed  upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned.”  Rom.  v:  12. 

When  humanity  was  driven  out  of  the  Edenic  home  on 
account  of  sin,  it  was  indeed  houseless  and  homeless.  Jesus,  in 
taking  upon  him  our  nature,  took  also  our  misfortunes  and 
our  poverty.  He  took  upon  himself  our  homelessness.  He 
said:  “The  foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have 
nests ;  but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head.” 
How  fully  he  takes  upon  him  our  destitution,  our  poverty. 
Though  himself  innocent  of  all  fault,  yet  how  willingly  and 
how  lovingly  he  bore  our  griefs. 

The  first  act  of  the  Savior’s  public  life,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  was  baptism.  This  was  an  obedience.  Obedience  to 
authority  is  man’s  first  duty.  When  Jesus  was  a  man  on  earth 
he  was  obedient  in  his  childhood,  and  began  his  public  ministry 
in  obedience.  One  object  of  his  living  on  earth  and  in  the 
flesh  was  to  afford  a  perfect  pattern  to  men  of  what  this  earth 
life  ought  to  be.  To  afford  a  perfect  pattern  to  us  he  must  live 
this  life  in  our  nature.  Had  he  taken  upon  him  any  other 
nature  than  ours,  while  he  might  have  lived  a  perfect  life,  we 
could  not  have  seen  it,  and  we  could  not  have  under¬ 
stood  it  and  could  not  have  followed  it:  “For  verily  he 
took  not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels;  but  he  took  on 
him  the  seed  of  Abraham.”  Heb.  ii :  16.  Had  he  taken  on 
him  the  angelic  nature,  the  pure  life  and  ministry  that 
he  could  have  exhibited  to  the  angels  would  have  been  unseen 
by  us,  and  would  have  afforded  us  no  pattern.  It  is  both  our 
duty  and  our  highest  interest  to  follow  Jesus.  He  has  for  our 
good  commanded  us  to  follow  him.  Had  he  become  an  angel, 
and  not  a  man,  we  should  not  be  able  to  follow  him.  But 
when  “  he  took  on  him  the  seed  of  Abraham,”  he  placed  him¬ 
self  in  our  reach,  in  our  sight,  and  began  the  career,  that  he 
would  have  us  imitate,  in  obedience. 

But  as  long  as  we  are  on  this  earth,  so  long  will  it  be  true, 
that  we  shall  be  tempted.  By  this  means  we  shall  always  be 
dragged  down  to  shame  and  suffering  and  ruin  without  a  pat¬ 
tern  to  follow  in  overcoming  temptation.  Jesus  does  not  stop 
at  precept,  but  he  gives  example  too.  “  He  took  on  him  the 
seed  of  Abraham  ”  and  became  a  man,  and  “  was  in  all  points 
tempted  like  as  we  are,”  overcame  the  temptations,  and  showed 


48 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


us  how  to  act  when  we  are  tempted.  He  successfully  resisted 
all  temptations,  and  that  in  human  nature  too,  that  he  might 
break  Satan’s  yoke  for  us,  and  show  us  how  to  resist  the 
tempter  and  overcome  the  temptations.  If  he  had  resisted  and 
overcome  in  the  angelic  nature  it  would  not  have  benefited  us. 
What  we  needed  was  to  have  the  battle  fought  in  our  own 
nature.  Christ  “took  on  him  the  seed  of  Abraham”  that 
human  nature,  that  man,  in  Christ,  might  enter  into  the  fight 
and  gain  the  victory  over  the  tempter  and  learn  how  to  resist 
the  devil. 

The  second  act  of  the  Savior’s  public  life  was  to  be  led  into 
the  conflict  with  temptation,  into  conflict  with  the  prince  of 
tempters,  into  conflict  with  all  the  powers  of  temptation  con¬ 
centrated  in  the  old  serpent,  the  devil  himself..  “Then  was 
Jesus  led  up  of  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness,  to  be  tempted  of 
the  devil.”  Matt,  iv :  1.  “And  immediately  the  Spirit  driveth 
him  into  the  wilderness.”  Mark  i :  12.  “And  Jesus  being  full 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  returned  from  Jordan,  and  was  led  by  the 
Spirit  into  the  wilderness.”  Luke  iv :  1. 

“The  statement  that  Jesus  was  led  up  by  the  Spirit  to  be 
tempted,  shows  that  he  was  subjected  to  temptation  in  accor¬ 
dance  with  a  deliberate  purpose,  but  a  purpose  not  his  own. 
Mark  uses  the  more  forcible  expression:  ‘the  Spirit  driveth 
him  into  the  wilderness.’  It  is  an  example,  then,  not  of  volun¬ 
tary  entrance  into  temptation,  but  of  being  divinely  led  into  it 
for  a  special  divine  purpose.”  McGarvey,  Com.  p.  40. 

For  our  sakes  this  battle  with  the  tempter  was  a  necessity. 
Yet,  for  our  good  it  would  not  have  done  lor  Jesus  to  seek  this 
contest.  Jesus  is  our  exemplar  and  it  is  our  business  to  follow 
him.  But  it  would  be  very  dangerous  to  us  to  seek  tempta¬ 
tion.  Hence  he  did  not  seek  temptation.  So  we  must  not  seek 
it.  But  as  we  are  often  involved  in  temptation  and  need  to 
know  how  to  extricate  ourselves  without  sinning,  our  Lord  and 
Master  was  led,  was  driven  “into  the  wilderness  to  be  tempted 
of  the  devil.”  In  this  measuring  of  swords  between  the  prince 
of  darkness  and  the  Prince  of  peace,  Satan  musters  all  the 
power  that  he  had.  He  never  worked  harder  than  in  this  case. 
His  first  effort  was  made  by  an  appeal  to  the  appetites  of  the 
flesh.  Jesus  “fasted  forty  days  and  forty  nights.”  After  that 
he  was  hungry.  In  his  keen  hunger  was  seen  our  humanity.. 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


49 


Forty  days  he  was  without  food.  It  appears  that  his  hunger 
was  held  back  for  forty  days.  For  a  time  a  river  can  be 
dammed^up  and  prevented  from  running.  The  waters  accumu¬ 
late  and  are  piled  up  in  vast  quantities.  .Suddenly  the  dam 
gives  way,  and  millions  of  tons  of  water,  in  mighty  flood,  rush 
headlong  down  the  stream,  carrying  every  thing  before  it.  So 
the  natural  appetite  for  food  was  somehow  held  in  abeyance  in 
the  body  of  Jesus,  while,  for  all  that  forty  days,  he  fasted. 
Then  the  flood  gates  of  appetite  were  thrown  open  and  raven¬ 
ous  hunger  swept  through  his  mortal  frame.  Then  was  the 
devil’s  opportunity  if  ever.  When  Jesus  was  overwhelmed  by 
the  gnawings  of  terrible  hunger,  Satan  adroitly  says :  “If  thou 
be  the  Son  of  God,  command  that  these  stones  be  made  bread.” 
This  was  very  craftily  put.  The  superficial  mind  does  not  very 
readily  see  that  there  would  have  been  any  thing  wrong  in 
turning  a  stone  into  a  loaf  of  bread.  Jesus  was  the  Son  of 
God  and  had  power  to  turn  a  stone  into  bread,  and  then  he  was 
so  hungry.  Yet  it  would  have  been  wrong  for  him  to  have 
turned  a  stone  to  bread,  and  he  would  not  do  it.  He  chose  to 
bear  his  hunger  and  trust  his  Father  for  something  to  eat.  He 
was  hungry  just  like  we  are  hungry.  But  his  hunger  was  in¬ 
tensified  by  his  long  fast.  A  fleshly  appetite  can  never  be  more 
overwhelming  than  was  the  hunger  of  Jesus  at  that  most  criti¬ 
cal  moment.  Satan  understood  well  the  situation.  If  Jesus 
could  only  have  been  induced  to  command  one  little  stone  to 
turn  into  bread,  the  salvation  of  the  world,  the  salvation  of  the 
whole  human  race,  your  salvation  and  mine,  dear  brethren, 
would  have  been  defeated,  would  have  been  forever  impossible. 
One  misstep,  one  unguarded  word  on  the  part  of  our  blessed 
Savior  at  that  critical,  at  that  terrible  moment,  would  have  con¬ 
signed  you  and  me  and  all  our  race  to  the  perpetual  dominion 
of  our  worst  enemy,  old  Satan  himself.  The  old  serpent  was 
making  a  bolder  stroke  than  he  did  in  Eden.  There  he  only 
contested  with  human  power  and  human  nature,  though  that 
human  nature  in  the  Garden  was  most  favorably  situated.  But 
now  he  enters  the  lists  with  human  nature,  worn  down  by  long 
fasting,  and  now  terribly  pinched  by  the  gnawings  of  present 
hunger.  But  the  divine  has  entered  into  the  human  in  Jesus, 
and  a  victory  over  him  will  be  a  victory  over  God.  This  is 
Satan’s  ambition,  to  break  the  power  of  the  Almighty. 


50 


THE  MOBERLY  PUEPIT. 


Jesus  was,  and  is,  the  last  hope  for  man.  Satan  sees 
that  if  he  can,  in  any  way,  induce  him  to  take  the  least  false 
step,  then  the  human  race  will  be  his  forever.  He  knows  that  if 
he  ever  succeeds  by  an  appeal  to  human  appetite  he  must  do  so 
now.  He  knows  that  if  he  fails  now,  he  will  forever  fail  by 
that  kind  of  temptation.  He  knows  that  if  he  fails  at  that  point 
and  at  this  time,  that  forever  after,  every  man  who  puts  his  trust 
in  Jesus  and  calls  on  him,  will  be  enabled  to  overcome  all  temp¬ 
tations  that  come  through  human  passions. 

Knowing  this,  how  cunningly  he  says:  “If  thou  be  the  Son 
of  Hod  command  that  these  stones  be  made  bread.”  But  with 
all  the  sublimity  of  quiet,  modest  majesty,  Jesus  says:  “It  is 
written,  man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word 
that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God.”  At  the  utterance 
of  these  words  Satan  knew  that  he  was  foiled.  He  knew  that 
his  dominion  over  man  through  the  instrumentality  of  his 
appetites  was  forever  lost.  He  knew  that  when  the  hosts  of 
Israel  were  starving  in  the  wilderness,  as  they  supposed,  that 
God  had  taught  them  that  they  could  be  fed  without  the  bread 
of  earth,  that  by  the  fiat  of  his  word  he  sent  bread,  manna,  from 
above  and  fed  them.  He  knew  that  Israel  was  typical  of  Christ, 
and  now,  he  saw  that  Christ,  though  the  hunger  of  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness  was  concentrated  in 
him,  was  looking  to  his  Father  for  sustenance.  He  saw  that 
Jesus  would  not  show  any  mistrust  of  his  Father  by  turning 
stones  into  bread  to  satisfy  present  hunger.  In  that  way  the 
devil  made  no  further  attempt.  He  gave  it  up.  Jesus  was  tri¬ 
umphant.  In  him,  dear  brethren,  we  are  able  to  successfully 
resist  all  temptations.  Let  us  continue  faithful  to  him.  He  will 
be  with  us  in  six  troubles,  and  in  the  seventh  he  will  not  forsake 
us.  He  will  take  us  to  heaven  in  the  end  and  give  us  crowns 
of  glory  there. 

While  the  brethren  sing : 

“Now  is  the  accepted  time,” 

we  invite  those  who  have  never  confessed  him  to  come  and 
obey  him,  and  make  him  their  Brother  too. 


SERMON  IV, 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST, 

CONCLUDED. 

Preached  Lord’s  Day,  April  IS,  1880. 

- * - ♦ -  ■ 

Text— “  But  made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him  the 
form  ot  a  servant.”  Phil,  ii :  7. 

My  Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters  : 

Your  attention  is  asked,  this  morning,  to  the  continuation  of 
the  study  of  the  human  nature  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  At 
the  close  of  the  preceding  discourse  we  left  him  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness  with  the  tempter.  He  had  just  come  out  triumphant  over 
the  devil  in  his  assault  upon  him  through  the  appetites  and  pas¬ 
sions.  Jesus,  borne  down  by  the  weakness  and  the  terrible 
hunger  following  forty  days  fasting,  came  out  of  the  contest 
unscathed.  Satan  was  defeated  and  knew  it.  He  did  not  try 
to  succeed  by  appealing  to  another  one  of  the  appetites  per¬ 
taining  to  human  flesh.  But  there  is  more  of  a  man  than  the 
flesh.  Jesus  haviug  taken  upon  him  our  whole  nature  was 
liable  of  course  to  be  tempted  in  every  way  that  we  are.  It  was 
necessary  for  us,  that  he  be  tempted  in  every  possible  way  that 
we  can,  so  that  he  might  show  us  how  to  overcome  in  every 
possible  case,  and  that  he  might  break  the  tempter’s  power  for 
tempting  in  every  particular.  So  the  tempter  next  appeals  to 
what  the  apostle  John  calls  “  the  lust  of  the  eyes.”  To  do  this 
he  places  Jesus  “on  a  pinnacle  of  the  temple.”  He  then  pro¬ 
poses  to  Jesus  to  cast  himself  down  from  the  giddy  height. 
This  temptation  is  most  ingeniously  presented.  He  seeks  to 
induce  Jesus  to  do  an  act  that  he  ought  not  to  do.  Yet, the 

wrong,  in  the  act,  is  so  adroitly  concealed  that  manv  a  man 

51 


■u  Jb. 


52 


THE  MOBEKLY  PULPIT. 


would  not  have  seen  it  at  all.  “  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God  east 
thyself  down.”  Jesus  claimed  to  be  the  Son  of  God;  was  the 
son  of  God ;  and  the  J ews,  and  indeed  all  men,  needed  to  be  con¬ 
vinced  of  his  Sonship.  To  caat  himself  from  that  lofty  height, 
down  upon  the  rocks  below,  and  receive  no  injury,  would  afford 
the  Jews  an  ocular  demonstration  of  his  power,  and  would 
surely  attract  great  attention  to  him,  and  would  make  him  at 
once  famous  in  Jerusalem. 

The  only  reason  on  the  surface  for  not  doing  the  act  wa3  the 
danger  of  bodily  injury.  But  the  act  is  only  urged  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  the  Son  of  God.  And  if  the  Son  of  God, 
as  in  the  case  of  turning  stones  into  bread,  he  had  the  power  to 
allow  himself  to  fall  and  yet  not  be  bodily  injured.  Here  was 
a  chance  to  make  a  grand  display  and  to  win  the  glory  of  man, 
and  perhaps  do  some  good  in  convincing  men  of  his  Sonship. 
Still,  if  the  human  nature  in  him  shrank  from  the  fall,  the 
tempter,  to  meet  that,  quotes  the  Scriptures:  “  For  it  is  written, 
he  shall  give  his  angels  charge  concerning  thee;  and  in  their 
hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up,  lest  at  any  time  thou  dash  thy 
foot  against  a  stone.”  Satan's  argument  is,  that  if  Jesus  be  the 
Son  of  God  and  the  Scripture  quoted  true,  both  of  which 
Jesus  approved,  there  would  be  no  danger  in  making  the  leap. 
Further,  if  Jesus  declined  to  do  it,  his  refusal  would  show  a 
lack  of  confidence,  either  in  his  Sonship  or  in  the  Scriptures, 
or  in  both.  But  how  completely  Jesus  puts  him  again  to  the 
rout  in  one  terse  quotation  from  the  Scriptures:  “Thou  shalt 
not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God.”  Though  God  had  promised  to 
protect  him,  it  would  have  been  wrong,  even  lor  Jesus  to  have 
wantonly  and  unnecessarily  exposed  himself  to  danger,  for  that 
would  have  been  putting  God  to  the  proof.  Had  he  leaped 
from  “the  pinnacle  of  the  temple,”  and  thus  have  gone  unneces¬ 
sarily  into  danger,  it  would  have  been  putting  God  to  the 
proof  (the  only  sense  in  which  God  can  be  tempted),  for  God 
would  have  been  obliged  to  interfere  to  protect  his  Sou,  or 
else  allow  an  apparent  failure  in  his  promise.  This  his  beloved 
Son  would  not  do,  and  he  silenced  and  foiled  the  tempter  by 
saying:  “It  is  written  again,  thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy 
God.” 

There  is  a  good  lesson  for  us,  brethren,  at  this  point.  Jesus 
is  able  to  assist  us  in  temptation.  He  has  promised  to  be  with 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST.  53 

us  in  troublous  times.  But  we  must  not  tempt  him,  we  dare 
not  put  him  to  the  proof  by  going  recklessly  and  foolishly  into 
danger.  The  professed  follower  of  Christ  tempts  God,  puts 
him  to  the  proof,  when  he  signs  a  saloon  man’s  petition  for  a 
license  and  then  expects  God  to  shield  his  sons  from  the  dan¬ 
gers  of  strong  drink.  When  a  church  member  signs  suck  a 
petition  or  casts  his  vote  in  favor  of  the  whisky  business,  he 
signs  away  his  right,  votes  away  his  right  to  God’s  protection 
for  his  family  and  himself  against  all  the  evils,  and  shames,  and 
disgraces,  and  tears,  and  woes,  and  blood  that  follow  in  the 
path  of  the  wine  cup.  After  signing  such  a  petition,  or  casting 
such  a  vote,  it  is  tempting  God,  it  is  putting  God  to  the  proof, 
to  ask  him  or  expect  him,  after  that,  to  protect  the  signer  or 
the  voter  and  those  dependent  upon  him  from  the  drunkard’s 
woes.  The  principle  is  the  same  when  we  needlessly  go  into 
bad  company,  or  allow  our  children  to  associate  with  the  vile. 
It  is  always  wrong  to  go  recklessly  and  needlessly  into  any  dan¬ 
ger.  It  is  not  bravery  to  go  foolishly  into  peril  where  there  is 
no  good  to  come  of  it.  That  is  the  place  where  God  will  not 
protect.  But  to  stand  for  the  right,  though  there  be  danger, 
and  trust  in  God  is  heroic. 

The  devil,  deleated  a  second  time,  makes  his  final  appeal  to 
the  love  of  power  in  the  human  heart.  He  takes  Jesus  to  a 
mountain’s  top  aud  shows  him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world. 
He  shows  him  the  glory  of  all  these  kingdoms  also.  We  may 
not  know  how  these  things  were  done  by  the  devil,  but  the  fact 
that  he  did  them  is  so  positively  and  clearly  stated  that  we  must 
accept  the  facts.  The  devil,  in  offering  to  give  all  the  kingdoms 
and  all  their  glory  to  Jesus,  made  the  highest  appeal  to  the  self¬ 
ishness  of  the  human  heart.  He  made  a  most  daring  appeal. 
He  evidently  thought  that  the  human  heart  in  Christ  must  yield 
to  the  offer  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  earth  with  all  their  glory. 
He  appealed  to  the  love  of  power,  to  the  love  of  fame,  and  to 
the  love  of  money  in  the  human  heart.  He  offered  all  earthly 
authority  and  dominion ;  he  offered  all  there  was  on  earth  to 
gratify  ambition ;  he  offered  all  there  was  on  earth  to  gratify  the 
love  of  money  in  the  human  soul.  All  that  he  asked  in  return 
was  one,  only  one,  act  of  worship  for  himself :  “  All  these  things 
will  I  give  thee,  if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and  worship  me.”  All 
the  power,  all  the  honor,  and  all  the  money  are  offered  in 


54 


THE  MOBERLY  PUEPIT. 


exchange  for  one  act  of  worship  to  be  bestowed  upon  Satan. 
The  tempter  does  not  this  time  say:  “If  thou  be  the  Son  of 
God.”  nor  does  he  quote  Scripture  this  time.  But,  relying  on 
the  magnitude  ot  the  offer,  and  upon  the  weakness  of  the  heart 
of  man,  he  boldly  asks  Jesus  to  “  fall  down  and  worship  ”  the 
devil  himself.  But  Jesus  says:  “Get  thee  hence,  Satan:  for  it 
is  written,  thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only 
shalt  thou  serve.” 

This  ended  the  conflict  in  the  wilderness.  “  Then  the  devil 
leaveth  him.”  No  better  answer  could  have  been  given.  There 
is  but  one  object  of  worship  in  the  universe,  that  is  one  proper 
object  of  worship,  and  that  is  God.  Idolatry  has  always  been 
a  prominent  sin  in  the  human  race.  Jesus  strikes  idolatry,  and 
the  devil  too,  a  deadly  blow  in  his  reply.  After  this,  every  man 
who  puts  his  trust  in  the  Christ  will  be  able  to  overcome  all 
temptations  presented  to  the  soul  through  the  love  of  the  world. 
The  tempter  has  now  tried  all  the  avenues  to  the  human  heart, 
and  has  been  defeated  at  every  point.  Jesus  has  been  the  vic¬ 
tor  at  every  point.  The  old  enemy  has  been  hurled  back  at 
every  point.  The  victory  is  ours  too,  for  our  Lord  overcame  in 
our  nature.  The  human  in  Christ  rose  above  the  tempter’s 
power.  He  is  in  sympathy  with  his  brethren  and  able  to  help 
them  in  the  hour  of  temptation.  “  In  that  he  himself  hath  suf¬ 
fered,  being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  succor  them  that  are  tempted.” 

We  see  the  human  in  him  again,  after  the  close  of  the  con¬ 
flict.  “  Then  the  devil  leaveth  him,  andbehold  angels  came  and 
ministered  unto  him.”  Jesus  was  uow  starving  bodily  though 
victorious  over  all  temptation.  The  cravings  of  hunger  were 
as  terrible,  and  as  depressing  to  him  as  they  would  be  to  us 
under  circumstances  as  trying.  But,  trusting  in  his  Father  and 
our  Father,  he  remained  faithful  and  resisted  all  temptation. 
But  now,  that  the  struggle  with  Satan  is  over,  he  must  in  his 
human  nature  be  perishing.  But  as  had  been  done  by  angels 
before,  when  the  prophet  of  the  Lord  was  starving,  60  now 
“angels  came  and  ministered  unto  him.” 

We  have  now  seen  that  although  Jesus  was  as  divine  as  his 
Father,  yet  so  far  as  the  capability  of  being  tempted  and  the 
fact  of  being  tempted  were  concerned,  he  was  as  human  as  we 
are.  But  we  have  also  seen  that  he  passed  through  all  tempta¬ 
tion  without  sin,  and  that  he  is  both  able  and  willing  to  help  u& 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


55 


to  overcome  in  all  our  temptations.  But  we  now  proceed  to 
show  that  he  was  not  only  tempted,  but  that  he  felt  and  suffered 
all  our  sorrow.  We  can  conceive  of  God  as  loving,  and  kind, 
and  merciful.  But  we  do  not  think  of  him  as  sorrowful,  and 
heart  broken,  and  weeping.  God  only  manifests  these  quali¬ 
ties  in  his  Son.  These  qualities  of  agony,  sorrow,  loneliness, 
homelessness,  pain,  hunger,  thirst,  weariness,  distress,  weepings, 
and  such  like  are  human  and  belong  to  man  on  the  earth  and  in 
the  flesh.  But  we  see  Jesus  manifesting  all  these:  “For  we 
have  not  an  high  priest  which  can  not  be  touched  with  the  feel¬ 
ing  of  our  infirmities.”  This  Scripture  in  the  Greek  says  :  For 
we  have  not  a  high  priest  who  is  not  able  to  feel  our  infirmities. 
Christ  has  so  fully  entered  into  our  human  nature  that  he  feels 
our  infirmities.  The  Greek  word  rendered  infirmity  applies 
both  to  the  physical  and  moral  natures.  Jesus  felt  both  our 
bodily  pains  and  our  heart  pangs.  He  wept  over  Jerusalem. 
He  shed  bitter  tears  of  sorrow  over  the  city  when  he  foretold 
its  destruction.  In  sorrow  and  in  tears  he  predicted  the  coming 
of  the  enemy,  the  utter  leveling  of  the  city  with  the  ground,  so 
that  not  one  stone  would  be  left  upon  another.  He  shed  tears 
of  sympathy  and  of  grief  with  Mary  and  Martha  at  the  grave 
of  Lazarus.  These  tears  came  from  the  human  side  of  his 
nature.  There  are  no  tears  in  heaven.  But  until  the  great 
judgment  day  there  will  be  tears  on  earth,  and  man  will  con¬ 
tinue,  until  then,  to  need  a  high  priest  who  can  feel  our 
sorrows. 

But  the  Scripture  now  under  consideration  teaches  that 
Jesus  feels  our  pangs  and  sorrows  now.  It  is  not  only  true 
that  he  sympathized  with  human  weakness  and  human  sorrow 
while  on  earth,  but  he  sympathizes  with  us  now,  to-day.  What 
is  the  language?  “  We  have  not  an  high  priest  who  can  not  be 
touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities.”  This  is  all  in  the 
present  tense,  was  present  when  this  was  written.  But  when 
this  was  written  Jesus  was  already  in  heaven,  and  was  able  to 
be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  the  infirmities  of  his  disciples, 
though  he  was  in  heaven  and  they  on  the  earth.  The  philosophy 
of  this  fact  we  need  not  trouble  ourselves  about,  but  the  con¬ 
soling  fact  we  lay  hold  of  by  faith.  When  the  devil  presses  us 
hard  with  temptations  and  our  souls  wrestle  with  the  tempter 
Jesus  in  heaven  feels  our  weakness  and  is  glad  to  help  us  to 


56 


THE  MOBEKLY  PULPIT. 


overcome.  When  our  poor  souls  are  cast  down  with  sorrow, 
Jesus  in  the  Father’s  house  is  touched  with  our  sorrow.  When 
dangers  encompass  us  about,  and  our  hearts  are  faint  with  fear, 
Jesus,  with  the  sceptre  of  heaven  and  earth  in  his  hands,  feels 
our  depression  of  spirit.  When  poverty  pinches,  when  we  are 
homeless,  when  h  anger  gnaws  at  our  vitals,  when  the  chilly, 
wintry  blast  pierces  our  very  bones,  Jesus,  with  the  jeweled 
crown  of  the  universe  on  his  brow,  feels  our  sadness,  remem¬ 
bering  that  while  on  earth  he,  too,  was  poor,  and  homeless,  and 
hungry  and  cold.  When  the  chill  of  death  steals  upon  us, 
when  the  death  dew  stands  in  drops  upon  our  foreheads,  when 
the  death  blindness  begins  to  veil  our  eyes  in  darkness,  when 
the  death  bell’s  ringing  in  our  ears  shuts  out  the  din  of  this 
world  and  the  voices  of  loved  ones,  then  Jesus,  the  King  ot 
kings,  feels  our  death  throes  and  sends  his  good  angels  to  bear 
our  souls  away  to  Abraham's  bosom. 

Jesus  did  not  forget  his  earthly  friends  when  he  went  to 
heaven.  He  did  not  leave  his  human  sympathy  behind  when 
he  went  up  on  high.  He  did  not  lay  aside  our  human  nature 
when  he  was  coronated  King.  He  is  still  in  the  tenderest 
sympathy  with  human  suffering  and  human  woe.  He  is  our 
brother,  but  he  loves  us  with  vastly  more  than  even  a  brother’s 
love. 

But  now  we  turn  our  attention  to  his  humiliation  and  death. 
In  human  nature  he  was  not  only  tempted,  and  hungered  and 
thirsted,  and  ate  food,  and  drank  water,  and  labored,  and 
wearied,  and  slept,  and  sorrowed,  and  wept  as  we  do,  but  he 
also  died  and  was  buried  in  the  grave  as  we  must  die  and  go 
down  to  the  tomb.  In  his  death  he  was  humiliated  and 
degraded.  He  “  made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon 
him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of 
men,  and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  himsell 
and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross.” 
Phil  i?  :  7,  8. 

We  will  devote  the  remainder  of  our  time  this  morning  to 
this  Scripture,  taking  its  items  in  numerical  order: 

1.  “Made  himself  of  no  reputation.”  This  is  badly  rendered 
in  King  James.  “Made  *  *  of  no  reputation”  is  all  made  of 
one  little  word  used  by  the  apostle  in  the  Greek.  It  is  ekenose, 
third  person  singular,  first  aorist  tense  of  kenoo.  The  word  is 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


57 


defined:  “To  empty,  evacuate;  to  divest  one's  self  of  one’s 
prerogatives ;  abase  one’s  self.”  It  means  here  that,  while 
Jesus  was  “equal  with  God  ”  and  “  thought  it  not  robbery  to- 
be  equal  with  God,”  still,  for  man’s  sake,  he  divested  himself  ot 
the  glory  and  honor  that  had  been  his  from  all  eternity.  He 
possessed  the  divine  glory  before  the  world  was,  but  laid  it  all 
aside  to  become  a  man.  He  emptied  himself,  stripped  himself, 
for  thirty-three  and  a  half  years,  of  “  the  form  of  God,”  of  the 
divine  majesty,  of  the  divine  glory,  that  he  might  become  one 
of  us.  He  did  not  cease  to  be  God,  but  he  put  off  the  “  form  ot 
God”  when  he  “took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant.”  He 
did  not  cease  to  be  divine,  but  he  laid  aside  the  glory  of  God. 
He  laid  it  aside  so  effectually  that  he  had  to  regain  it  by  faith¬ 
fully  and  perfectly  doing  the  will  of  his  Father  while  in  human 
flesh  on  this  earth.  While  in  our  nature  on  earth  he  prayed, 
just  as  men  ought  to  pray,  for  the  same  glory  that  he  had  with 
the  Father  before  the  world  was.  He  laid  aside  the  authority 
and  dominion  and  dignity  that  pertained  to  the  divine  nature. 
Yet  he  did  not  lay  aside  the  divine  nature  itself.  But  he- 
stripped  it  of  its  glory  in  his  person  that  he  might  put  on,  and 
did  put  on  our  humiliation,  our  temptations,  our  disappoint¬ 
ments  and  our  mortality.  So  in  his  person  the  divine,  divested 
of  its  sublime  majesty  and  beauty,  was  linked  to  the  human  and 
clothed  with  our  marred  visage  and  uncomely  mien.  He  laid 
aside  the  royal  robes  of  the  “Father’s  house”  and  put  on  the 
“sackcloth  and  ashes”  of  earth,  cursed  with  sin  and  death. 
The  prophet  described  him  correctly  long  before  he  took  upon 
him  our  nature.  He  says :  “Who  hath  believed  our  report? 
And  to  whom  is  the  arm  of  the  Lord  revealed  ?  For  he  shall 
grow  up  before  him  as  a  tender  plant,  and  as  a  root  out  of  dry 
ground  ;  he  hath  no  form  nor  comeliness ;  and  when  we  shall  see 
him  there  is  no  beauty  that  we  should  desire  him.”  Isa.  liii :  1,  2. 
Isaiah  here  very  accurately  described,  in  prophetic  style,  the 
same  aspect  of  the  Savior’s  character  and  person  that  Paul 
describes  in  our  text  when,  in  historic  style,  he  says,  “But 
made  himself  of  no  reputation,”  —  emptied  himself  of  heavenly 
majesty  and  glory;  divested  himself  of  his  heavenly  preroga¬ 
tives. 

2.  “And  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant  and  was  made 
in  the  likeness  of  men.”  But  that  we  may  the  better  under- 


58 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


stand  the  apostle’s  thought,  we  re-translate  the  whole  seventh 
verse:  But  emptied  himself,  taking  the  form  of  a  servant, 
being  in  the  likeness  of  men.  The  two  participial  phrases, 
taking  the  form  of  a  servant,  and,  being  in  the  likeness  of  men, 
express  simultaneous  facts.  He  took  the  form  of  a  servant  at  , 
the  same  time  that  he  assumed  the  likeness  of  men.  Indeed, 
the  latter  phrase  may  properly  be  considered  as  explanatory  of 
the  former.  He  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant  by  assum¬ 
ing  the  likeness  of  men.  The  whole  verse  may  be  paraphrased 
thus  :  But  he  stripped  himself  of  the  divine  glory  by  taking 
upon  him  the  condition  of  a  servant ;  and  he  took  upon  him 
the  condition  of  a  servant  by  becoming  the  Son  of  man. 

The  condition  of  a  servant,  in  the  nature  of  things,  implies 
an  obligation  to  obev.  The  normal  condition  of  a  servant  is 
obedience  to  authoritv,  submission  to  the  will  of  another. 
Hence  we  shall  see  directly  that  the  whole  earth  life  of  Jesus 
was  one  continued  obedience  to  the  will  of  his  Father.  But 
Paul’s  effort,  evidently,  is  to  find  words  to  suitably  express  the 
humiliation  of  Christ.  The  condition  of  a  servant  goes  still 
further  —  it  is  expressive  of  inferiority.  Jesus  not  only  obeyed 
the  law  of  Moses,  and  did  the  will  of  the  Father,  and  even  paid 
tribute  to  Caesar,  but  he  spent  his  entire  earthly  ministry  in 
toils  and  labors,  in  self-denials  and  sufferings  for  the  good  of 
others,  and  that  without  pay.  He  received  no  wages.  He  said 
to  his  disciples:  “I  am  among  you  as  he  that  serveth.”  He 
was  willing  to  serre  his  disciples  for  their  good.  He  washed 
his  disciples’  feet.  He  volunteered  to  do  this  service,  even  this 
menial  service,  to  teach  them  a  very  important  lesson.  He  was 
ever  ready  to  do  good  to  others  without  reference  to  self 
reward,  but  that  somebody  might  be  better,  might  be  happier. 
He  was  willing  to  be  a  servant  of  all,  that  he  might  save  all. 
Still,  he  does  not  serve  us  contrary  to  our  wills.  But  he  will 
serve  and  save  all  who  are  willing  and  glad  to  be  served  by  one 
so  transcendently  loving  and  kind.  If  Peter,  even,  had  not 
become  willing,  yea,  more  than  willing,  that  Jesus  should  wash 
his  feet,  he,  even  he,  would  have  had  no  part  with  Jesus.  Peter, 
as  soon  as  he  learned  that  fact,  became  not  only  willing,  but 
anxious,  to  be  served  by  the  Lord  Jesus.  But,  oh!  how  few 
there  are  now  willing  to  have  their  souls  washed  from  the 
pollutions  of  sin.  He  is  as  ready'  to-day  to  cleanse  the  willing 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


59 


soul  from  the  foulness  of  sin  as  he  was  then  to  wash  Peter's 
feet.  Still  he  will  not,  and  ought  not,  to  wash  any  man's  soul 
contrary  to  the  man's  will.  If  a  man  love  sin  more  than  he 
loves  Christ,  he  is  not  worthy  of  him.  Christ  served  humanity 
willingly,  gladly,  and  men  and  women  and  little  children  ought 
to  he  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  do  him  any  service. 

3.  “And  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  him¬ 
self”  He  not  only  humbled  himself  in  laying  aside  the  majesty 
of  heaven,  and  divesting  himself  of  his  original  glory  in 
becoming  a  man,  but  as  a  man,  he  humbled  himself  among 
men.  By  the  fleshly  line  he  was  heir  to  the  throne  of  Israel. 
He  was  of  the  stock  of  Abraham,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  of  the 
house  of  David,  of  the  royal  line.  He  was  heir  not  only  to  the 
throne  of  Judea,  but  being  David’s  heir,  he  was  heir  to  the 
crown  and  heir  to  the  throne  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. 
The  Jews  expected  one  to  come,  desired  one  to  come,  who 
would  re-establish  the  throne  of  David.  Their  proudest 
ambition  would  have  been  to  be  able  to  see  the  military 
prowess  of  the  times  of  David,  and  the  glory  of  Jerusalem  in 
the  days  of  Solomon  re-established.  Their  hearts  would  have 
thrilled  with  loyalty  to  one  of  the  line  of  David,  at  whose 
voice  the  stormy  winds  were  hushed  and  the  rolling  billows 
were  calm,  and  at  whose  touch  disease  fled  away  and  the  ruddy 
glow  of  health  returned  to  the  pale  cheek,  and  at  whose  word 
of  command  warm  life  came  back  to  the  cold,  dead  body. 
Their  grandest  and  loftiest  aspirations  would  have  been  to 
march  and  fight  under  the  banner  of  David’s  heir,  and  heir  of 
Solomon,  wiser  than  Solomon  himself,  who  could  have  re¬ 
enacted  the  pageantry  of  Kiug  Hiram’s  cedars  ofyLebanon 
coming  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  Queen  of  the  South  paying  court 
at  Jerusalem  to  the  wisdom  of  a  king  far  outstripping  the 
renowned  wisdom  of  Solomon.  All  this  the  man  Christ  Jesus 
had  the  power  to  have  done.  No  other  man  has  lived,  possessed 
of  such  power,  and  no  other  man  has  lived  possessed  of  such 
goodness  and  humility  that  he  would,  or  could,  have  refrained 
from  exercising  it  in  that  way.  Such  a  career  would  have 
aggrandized  the  Jews  for  a  season,  and  have  left  the  whole 
human  race  under  the  grinding  heel  of  Satanic  tyranny  for  all 
eternity  to  come. 

But  instead  of  pursuing  such  a  course  of  human  glory,  Christ 


60 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


Jesus,  as  a  man,  “humbled  himself”  among  men.  He  was 
content  with  poverty  and  hardship.  He  acknowledged  Beth¬ 
lehem  as  the  place  of  his  nativity  and  Nazareth  as  his  place  of 
residence.  His  best  beloved  ones  were  humble  fishermen.  He 
was  content  with  greater  poverty  than  that  of  the  wild  beasts 
and  the  wild  birds.  Why  all  this  poverty?  Why  this  hunger¬ 
ing  and  thirsting  ?  Why  these  sore  temptations  ?  Why  these 
sorrowful  tears ?  Why  this  weariness  of  the  flesh?  Not  that 
he  might  accomplish  anything  for  himself,  but  that  he  might 
win  our  souls  away  from  the  love  of  sin;  that  he  might  break 
Satan’s  oppressive  yoke ;  that  he  might  make  an  atoning  sacri¬ 
fice  for  our  sins ;  that  he  might  purify  our  hearts ;  that  he 
might  make  us  “partakers  of  the  divine  nature;”  that  he 
might  constitute  us  heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  himself 
of  all  things;  that  he  might  “burst  the  bars  of  death;”  that 
he  might  rescue  us  from  mortality ;  that  he  might  eve  n  “  quicken 
your  mortal  bodies”  and  mine  ;‘tkat  he  might  open  to  men  the 
pearly  gates  of  the  golden  city  and  bid  them  come  in  and  dwell. 
These,  dear  brethren,  are  some  of  the  reasons  why  Jesus 
humbled  himself.  He  stooped  to  the  lowliest  condition  of  the 
poorest  of  the  race  of  man  that  the  humblest  and  poorest  of 
our  fallen  race  might  lay  hold  on  him,  and  be  lifted  up  by  him. 

4.  “And  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the 
cross.”  Our  Savior  came  to  this  world  to  render  a  perfect 
obedience  to  the  will  of  the  Father.  Obedience  is,  and  always 
has  been,  necessary  to  the  well-being  of  the  human  race.  It  is 
and  has  been  also  necessary  to  the  well-being  of  the  angelic 
race  —  if  it  be  proper  to  call  angels  a  race.  Obedience  to  God, 
their  Creator,  is  necessary  to  their  well-being,  whether  they 
should  be  called  a  race  or  not.  We  are  seriously  affected  for 
evil  by  angelic  disobedience.  We  are  affected  for  good  by 
angelic  obedience.  The  good  angels  do  us  good,  and  the  bad 
angels  do  us  harm.  The  human  race  needed  one  to  render 
perfect  obedience  as  a  man,  as  one  of  us;  an  obedience  ihat 
would  be  human,  and  at  the  same  time  perfect  and  complete. 
Such  an  obedience  man  had  failed  to  render  under  the  favorable 
circumstances  of  Eden.  Such  an  obedience  was  an  impossi¬ 
bility  under  the  unfavorable  conditions  of  man  already  fallen, 
already  sinful,  already  mortal,  already  condemned.  Such 
obedience  the  purest  of  all  the  angels  could  not  render,  for  the 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


61 


reason  that  liis  obeditnce  would,  of  necessity,  he  angelic  and 
not  human.  There  is  hut  one,  never  has  been  but  one,  and 
never  will  be  but  one,  who  can,  or  could,  render  that  perfect 
human  obedience  to  the  perfect  law  of  God  that  is  essential  to 
human  well-being.  That  one  is  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord.  He 
came  to  this  world  and  took  our  nature  upon  him  for  the 
express  purpose  of  rendering  such  obedience  to  the  law  of  God, 
and  of  doing  it  in  such  a  way  that  we  may  reap  the  benefits  of 
it.  “  Then  said  I,  lo.  I  come  (in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is 
written  of  me,)  to  do  thy  will,  O  God.  Above,  when  he  said, 
Sacrifice,  and  offering,  and  burnt  offerings,  and  offering  for  sin, 
thou  wouldest  not,  neither  hadst  pleasure  therein,  which  are 
offered  by  the  law ;  said  he,  Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will  ( O  God) : 
he  taketh  away  the  first,  that  he  may  establish  the  second.” 
Heb.  x :  7-9. 

This  grand  utterance,  quoted  by  the  apostle,  teaches  that 
Jesus  came  expressly  to  render  obedience  to  the  will  of  the 
Father.  It  teaches  beyond  all  question  that  the  offerings  made 
under  the  Mosaic  law  were  not  sufficient  to  meet  1  he  wants  of 
man.  They  did  not  and  could  not  satisfy  the  demands  of  the 
perfect  law.  They  were  themselves  imperfect.  They  could 
not  take  away  sin.  They,  and  the  law  under  which  they  were 
offered,  must  give  place  to  something  better.  An  obedience 
and  a  sacrifice  that  were  absolutely  perfect  were  necessary  to 
redeem  man  from  the  thralldom  of  sin  and  death.  This  Scrip¬ 
ture  explicitly  teaches  that  Jesus  came  to  render  that  perfect 
obedience  and  offer  that  perfect  sacrifice.  All  the  value  that 
attached  to  offerings  under  the  law  was  in  their  typical  char¬ 
acter.  They  pointed  forward  to  Christ.  They  were  the  means 
by  which  the  Israel  of  God  reached  to  Christ.  But  when 
Christ  came  and  made  the  offering,  aud  rendered  the  obedience 
that  was  perfect,  he  “took  away  the  first,”  that  is,  the  cere¬ 
monial  law,  with  its  offerings,  that  he  might  “establish  the 
second.” 

During  Christ's  earth  life  he  was  always  obedient.  He  obeyed 
Joseph  and  Mary  in  his  childhood.  He  obeyed  the  law  of  Moses- 
in  his  manhood.  He  obeyed  in  all  things  the  will  of  liis  Father, 
lie  flinched  not  at  temptation,  rejected  not  poverty.  He' 
endured  hardship.  H  e  underwent  sorrow,  and  when  obedience: 
demanded  his  life,  it  was  not  withheld,  but  most  obediently 
e 


62 


THE  MOBERLY  PUEPIT. 


offered  up,  most  lovingly  surrendered  in  order  to  secure  eternal 
life  for  others.  He  was  “  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death 
of  the  cross.” 

Death  is  cold,  and  hard,  and  bitter  at  best,  but  when  it  comes 
with  shame  and  disgrace  it  is  doubly  severe.  But  when  the 
shame  is  undeserved,  when  the  disgrace  comes  of  false  accusa¬ 
tion  and  lying  witnesses,  death  is  terrible  beyond  the  power  of 
words  to  describe.  Such,  brethren,  was  the  death  of  the  cross. 
Jesus  was  hated  by  wicked  and  corrupt  men  because  his  God¬ 
like  life,  his  pure  hfe.  his  perfect  life,  was  a  living  rebuke  to 
their  sins.  They  hated  him  because  of  his  righteous  rebukings 
of  their  hypocr  sy.  This  hatred  was  intensified  by  their  reli¬ 
gious  bigotry.  They  mistook  his  real  fulfilling  of  the  law, 
his  accomplishing  the  end  for  which  the  law  was  given,  for 
the  subversion  of  »he  law.  The}7-,  having  made  void  the  word 
of  God  by  their  traditions,  did  not  recognize  him  as  the  prophet 
of  whom  Moses  himself  spoke  when  he  said:  “A  prophet 
shall  the  Lord  your  God  raise  up  unto  you  of  your  brethren, 
like  unto  me ;  him  shall  ye  hear  in  all  things  whatsoever  he 
shall  say  unto  you.”  Hence  they  had  in  their  hearts  the  hatred 
of  hypocrisy  exposed,  of  sins  laid  bare  and  religious  bigotry 
combined.  Then,  to  add  to  the  bitterness  of  death,  it  came 
through  the  treachery  of  a  friend,  a  hypocritical  friend  it  is 
true,  but  a  friend,  up  to  that  time,  true  and  loved.  Then  the 
cross  itself  was  disgraceful.  Then  to  disgrace  him  more  deeply 
still,  they  put  him  to  death  in  the  company  of  thieves.  He 
submitted  to  a  cruel  death  on  the  shameful  cross  in  obedience. 
Hear  him  in  Geihsemane:  “My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful, 
even  unto  death.”  “  O  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup 
pass  from  me:  nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt.’ 
“O  my  Father,  if  this  may  not  pass  away  from  me  except  I 
•drink  it,  thy  will  be  done.”  Then  obedience  to  the  will  of  his 
Father,  obedience  that  involved  “  even  the  death  of  the  cross,” 
closed  the  life  of  Jesus. 

Bemember,  brethren,  that  the  false  accusations  of  the  lying 
witnesses  were  as  repugnant  to  him  as  they  would  be  to  you. 
Bemember  that  the  treachery  of  Judas  stung  his  heart  as 
keenly  as  it  would  yours.  Bemember  that  the  shame  of  the 
cross  was  as  repulsive  to  him  as  it  would  be  to  you.  Bemember 
that  the  company  of  thieves  was  as  loathsome  to  him  as  to  you. 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  OF  CHRIST. 


63 


Remember  that  his  flesh  felt  the  sharp  thorns  and  the  cold, 
cruel  nails  as  painfully  as  you  would  feel  them.  Then  remem¬ 
ber  that  he  endured  all  this  in  our  nature  to  save  us.  Remember 
that  he  loved  all  men  well  enough  to  sutler  all  this  for  their 
sakes.  Then,  finally,  remember  that  he  would  have  all  men 
follow  him,  obey  him  as  he  obeyed  his  Father.  Let  us  ever  be 
faithful  to  him,  dear  brethren. 

Now  we  ask  our  friends  who  are  here  to-day,  and  who  have 
never  confessed  him  before  men,  whether  there  is  a  responsive 
cord  in  their  hearts  to  the  love  that  he  bore  to  them  on  the 
cross?  Do  you  not  intend  to  obey  him?  Do  you  not  know 
that  if  death  fiuds  you  in  disobedience  to  him  that  you  will  be 
forever  lost?  Why  not  confess  him  to-day?  While  the  brethren 


SERMON  IV, 


CHRIST'  THE  MEDIATOR, 


Preached  Lord’s  Day,  May  2,  1880. 


Text  —  “  For  there  is  one  God  and  one  Mediator  between  God  and 
men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all,  to  be 
testified  in  due  time.” — Paul. 

My  Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters  : 

Our  theme  this  morning  is,  Christ  in  the  office  of  Mediator. 
Webster  defines  the  word  mediator  to  mean:  “One  who 
mediates;  especially,  one  who  interposes  between  parties  at 
variance  for  the  purpose  of  reconciling  them ;  intercessor ; 
hence,  by  way  of  eminence,  Christ  is  called  the  Mediator.” 
Webster  goes  on  and  gives  as  synonyms  of  mediator:  “Inter¬ 
cessor  ;  advocate;  propitiator ;  interceder ;  arbitrator ;  umpire.” 

These  definitions  show  clearly  that  wherever  there  is  a  medi¬ 
ator  officiating,  there  are  two  parties  at  variance.  These  two 
parties  may  consist  of  one  or  any  number  of  persons  each. 
The  office  of  a  mediator  is  to  reconcile  the  parties.  Beconcili- 
ation  is  inseparable  from  the  office  of  a  mediator.  Variance  is 
always  the  result  of  a  fault,  or  faults  of  one  or  the  other,  or 
both  of  the  parties.  In  this  case  the  parties  at  variance  are 
God  and  man.  The  fault  is  all  on  the  part  of  man.  He  is  the 
offending  party.  God  is  the  offended  party.  To  effect  a  recon¬ 
ciliation  in  this  case,  so  far  as  God  is  concerned,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  remove  the  offense  on  man’s  part.  The  offense  is 
sin.  Man’s  sins  have  separated  him  from  God.  There  is  no 
change  in  God  necessary.  Man  is  the  party  to  be  changed. 
He  needs  to  be  made  “a  new  creature.”  Christ,  as  mediator, 
did,  and  does,  the  work  of  reconciliation.  The  work  of  recon¬ 
ciliation  does  not  exhaust  Christ’s  mission.  He  is  more  than 
64 


i 


CHEIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 


65 


Mediator.  He  fills  more  offices  than  one.  But  the  one  we  have 
under  consideration  to-day,  is  the  one  specially  devoted  to  the 
work  of  bringing  about  the  state  of  amity  between  men  and 
God. 

The  word  mediator  occurs  seven  times  in  the  English  New 
Testament,  though  the  Greek  word  whence  it  comes  occurs 
only  six  times  in  the  Greek  New  Testament.  This  comes  of 
the  fact  that  King  James’  translators  supply  it  once  where  the 
word  does  not  occur  in  the  Greek.  This  is  in  the  twentieth 
verse,  third  chapter  of  Galatians.  In  that  verse,  in  the  English, 
it  occurs  twice,  while  in  the  Greek  it  occurs  but  once. 

The  word,  in  Greek,  is  mesitees.  It  is  found  first  in  Gal.  iii : 
19,  20.  “Wherefore  then  serveth  the  law?  It  was  added 
because  of  transgressions,  till  the  seed  should  come  to  whom 
the  promise  was  made ;  and  it  was  ordained  by  angels  in  the 
hand  of  a  mediator.  Now  a  mediator  is  not  a  mediator  of  one, 
but  God  is  one.”  Now,  let  us  consider  the  circumstances  under 
which  this  was  said.  Paul  was  refutiug  the  position  of  the 
Judaizing  teachers,  who  contended  that  it  was  necessary  for 
Christians  to  keep  the  law  of  Moses.  Those  teachers  insisted 
on  imposing  the  ceremonies  of  the  law  on  the  Gentile  Chris¬ 
tians.  To  refute  them,  Paul  appealed  to  the  Old  Testament 
history  of  the  Messianic  promises.  He  reminded  them  that  “to 
Abraham  and  his  seed  were  the  promises  made.  He  saith  not, 
and  to  seeds,  as  of  many,  but  as  of  one.  And  to  thy  seed, 
which  is  Christ.”  This  is  the  language  of  the  sixteenth  verse, 
preceding  the  ones  under  consideration.  Before  Abraham  left 
his  native  land,  God  had  said  to  him:  “In  thee  shall  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  be  blessed.”  This  promise,  recorded  in 
Gen.  xii :  3,  related  to  Christ.  Paul  so  applies  it  in  this  verse. 
Then  the  promise  of  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  in  Christ  are 
not  dependent  on  the  law ;  are,  indeed,  independent  of  the  law. 
God  covenanted  with  Abraham  and  his  seed  long  before  the 
law.  The  promise  was  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  older 
than  the  law.  Hear  Paul  in  the  next  verse :  “And  this  I  say, 
that  the  covenant  that  was  confirmed  before  of  God  in  Christ, 
the  law  which  was  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  after,  can  not 
disannul,  that  it  should  make  the  promise  of  none  effect.”  The 
law,  then,  was  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  too  youug  to  have 
the  blessings  of  salvation  in  it.  Then  it  was  too  narrow.  None 


66 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


but  the  Jews  were  heirs  by  the  law,  while  the  Abrahamic 
promise  included  all  nations.  Christ  was  to  offer  salvation  to 
all  that  would  accept  it,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles.  The  Juda- 
izing  teacher  felt  this  u arrowness  of  the  law,  and  hence  he 
wished  to  circumcise  the  Gentile  Christians,  and  thus  make 
legal  Jews  of  them.  But  there  were  two  serious  objections  to 
this :  1.  It  would  do  no  good  ;  as  Paul  shows,  by  the  fact  that 
the  Messianic  blessings  were  matters  of  promise,  and  not  of 
law.  They  were  to  be  received  and  enjoyed  by  faith  in  the 
promised  seed,  which  seed  was  Christ.  But  this  promise  ante¬ 
dated  the  law  four  hundred  and  thirty  years,  and  all  the  bless¬ 
ings  of  Christ’s  gospel  could  be  had  by  laith,  on  the  part  of 
any  man  not  under  the  law  as  readily  as  by  a  man  who  was 
under  the  law.  Then,  to  circumcise  a  Gentile  Christian  added 
no  gospel  blessings  to  him ;  he  gained  nothing  by  it.  2.  The 
law  was  burdensome.  It  involved  expense,  and  labor,  and  time 
to  observe  its  ritual.  Hence,  the  apostles  declined  to  lay  any 
such  burden  on  the  Gentile  brethren.  Paul  states  further,  in 
the  next  verse :  “  If  the  inheritance  be  of  the  law,  it  is  no 
more  of  promise ;  but  God  gave  it  to  Abraham  by  promise.” 
The  Messianic  inheritance  can  not  be  both  by  the  law  and  by 
the  promise  at  the  same  time.  But  as  a  matter  of  simple  fact 
God  gave  it  to  Abraham  by  promise,  and  the  Judaizing  teacher 
is  logically  under  obligation  to  close  his  mouth. 

This  brings  us  to  our  passage  where  a  mediator  is  officially 
brought  to  view.  Let  us  re-translate  it  from  the  original : 

Wherefore  then  the  law?  On  account  of  transgressions  it 
was  added,  ordained  by  angels,  in  the  hand  of  a  mediator,  until 
the  seed  should  come,  to  whom  the  promise  pertained.  But  the 
mediator  is  not  of  one,  but  God  is  one. 

The  Mosaic  dispensation,  in  this  passage  called  the  law,  was 
established  and  kept  in  force  until  Christ  came  in  fulfillment  of 
the  Messianic  promise.  That  was  its  use  and  limit.  It  was  at  an 
end  when  Christ  made  the  offering  for  sin.  It  was  only  estab¬ 
lished  until  the  seed,  Christ,  should  come.  Then  it  was  to  give 
place  to  something  better. 

The  Mosaic  Institution  and  the  Christian  are  distinct  from 
one  another.  They  are  based  upon  different  promises.  They 
Were  ordaiued  to  confer  different  blessings.  They  had  differ¬ 
ent  mediators,  different  rules  and  different  governments.  Mo- 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 


67 


sps  was  the  mediator  of  one,  and  Jesus  was  the  mediator  of  the 
other.  The  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  were  the  recipients  of  the 
honors  of  the  one,  while  all,  of  every  nation  who  believe  in 
Christ,  are  the  recipients  of  the  honors  of  the  other.  One  per¬ 
tained  to  time  and  to  things  earthly,  while  the  other  pertains 
to  eternity  and  to  things  heavenly,  to  things  divine. 

God  made  two  promises  to  Abraham.  One  was  that  his  seed 
in  the  flesh  should  possess  the  land  of  Canaan  and  become  a 
strong  nation  in  it.  The  other  was  that  all  nations  should  be 
blessed  in  his  seed.  Gen.  xii :  1,  2,  3;  xxii :  17,  18.  Neither  of 
these  promises  was  fulfilled  in  the  lifetime  of  Abraham.  But 
the  former  was  verified  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  after,  in 
the  establishment  of  the  Mosaic  Institution  with  Moses  as  medi¬ 
ator  ;  and  the  latter  has  been,  and  is  now  being  verified  in  the 
Institution  of  Christ.  One  is  called  the  law,  the  other  the  gos¬ 
pel.  These  two  stand  related  to  each  other  as  type  and  antitype, 
Moses,  as  the  mediator  of  the  one,  is  type  of  Christ,  as  media¬ 
tor  of  the  other.  Christ  is  antitype  to  Moses.  Israel  in  Egypt 
was  estranged  from  God.  They  had  become,  in  their  bondage, 
idolatrous  and  alienated  from  God.  They  needed  one  to  stand 
between  them  and  God,  one  to  wiu  their  hearts  to  him  by  wean¬ 
ing  them  away  from  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt.  They  needed  one 
to  lead  them  out  of  Egypt,  make  them  free,  and  present  them 
acceptable  to  God.  The  long  history  of  the  dealings  of  Moses 
with  them  is  proof  of  this. 

Paul  says :  “The  mediator  is  not  of  one.”  He  is  of  two.  “God 
is  one,”  and  man  is  one.  But  God  and  men  are  two.  Christ  as 
mediator  stands  between  God  and  man.  A  mediator,  to  suc¬ 
ceed  in  reconciling,  must  have  the  confidence  and  the  good 
will  of  both  parties,  must  have  the  love  of  both  parties.  Hence, 
Moses  in  Egypt  had  to  win  the  confidence  of  Israel  by  giving 
sufficient  proof  of  bis  mission.  Likewise  Christ,  on  earth,  gave 
most  indubitable  proofs  of  his  divine  power  and  his  love  for  the 
fallen  sons  of  men.  As  the  law  was  ordained  in  the  hand  of 
a  mediator  until  the  Christ  should  come,  so  Christ's  mediator- 
ship  will  continue,  at  least,  until  the  coming  of  the  Lord  at  the 
great  day  of  the  resurrection  and  of  the  judgment. 

Let  us  now  carefully  examine  the  language  of  our  text: 
“For  there  is  one  God,  and  one  mediator  between  God  and  men, 
the  man  Christ  Jesus,  who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all,  to  be 


68 


THE  MOBEREY  PULPIT. 


testified  in  due  time.”  Our  text  is  introduced  by  the  word  for, 
connecting  the  text  with  what  the  apostle  ha3  just  previously 
said.  Paul  is  forcibly  urging  the  duty  of  prayer,  instructing 
Timothy  to  exhort  the  brethren,  and  himself  exhorting  the 
brethren  “  that  first  of  all,  supplications,  prayers,  intercessions, 
and  giving  of  thanks  he  made  for  all  men.”  He  adds,  on  behalf 
of  kings,  and  on  behalf  of  all  that  are  in  authority,  “that  we 
may  lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life  in  all  godliness  and 
honesty.”  He  then  goes  on  to  give  reasons  for  exhorting  the 
brethren  thus  to  pray.  One  of  which  is  that,  “this  is  good  and 
acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God  our  Savior,  who  will  have  all 
men  to  be  saved,  and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.” 
It  is  always  a  good  reason  for  doing  a  thing  when  we  know 
that  “  it  is  good  and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God.”  And  if 

God  wills  that  all  men  should  be  saved  and  come  to  the  knowl- 

• 

edge  of  the  truth,  it  is  certainly  right  for  us  to  pray  for  all 
men.  This  brings  us  to  the  language  of  our  text.  There  are 
five  things  in  this  text  to  be  considered.  We  take  them  up 
and  discuss  them  in  numerical  order.  They  are  as  follows  : 

1.  “For  there  is  one  God.”  The  proposition  that  “ there  is 
one  God,”  is  here  given  as  a  further  reason  why  ^ve  ought  to 
pray  for  all  men.  The  polytheistic  nations,  of  course,  if  they 
prayed  at  all,  would  not,  and  could  not,  pray  for  all  men.  A 
man  who  believed  in  the  god  of  war,  would  not  pray  for  his 
enemies.  A  man  who  believed  in  the  gods  of  Pome  would  not 
pray  for  the  Carthagenians.  In  the  very  nature  of  things,  a 
polytheist  could  not  pray  for  all  men.  For  the  gods  them¬ 
selves  of  one  nation  were  regarded  as  the  enemies  of  another 
nation.  Whether  there  was  one  God  or  many  gods,  had  been 
the  issue  between  Mosaism  and  polytheism.  It  had  required  a 
constant  struggle,  with  many  failures,  to  keep,  even  the  Jews 
themselves,  on  the  monotheistic  side  of  the  boundary  line 
between  Mosaism  and  polytheistic  religions.  But,  after  the 
Babylonian  captivity,  the  Jews  were  consistent  and  persistent 
monotheists.  They  were  soundly  converted  to  the  faith  of  one 
God  after  the  nation’s  sore  experience  in  Babylon.  Whatever 
else  may  be  alleged  against  them,  it  must  be  said  of  them  that 
they  were  sound  monotheists  after  their  return  from  the  cap¬ 
tivity. 

But  while  the  Jews  had  become  settled  in  the  belief  of  one 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 


69 


God,  and  but  one,  yet  there  was  a  lesson  that  they  had  not  yet 
learned.  While  they  believed  in  the  God  of  Israel  as  the  one 
only  true  God,  they  did  not  believe  that  he  was  the  God  of  all 
men.  All  other  men  they  regarded  as  simply  godless.  It  look 
Christ  to  teach  the  further  lesson  that  the  one  true  God  is  the 
God  of  all  men.  But  Christians,  for  whose  instruction  Paul 
was  writing,  were  presumed  to  have  learned  that,  as  God  had 
made  all  men,  so,  also,  he  loved  all  men,  desired  the  happiness 
of  all  men,  had  given  his  Son  to  die  for  all  men,  that  all  men 
who  would  accept  of  him  might  be  saved.  Then  the  fact  that 
there  is  one  God,  who  loves  all,  constitutes  a  good  reason  for 
our  praying  for  all..  If  we  be  God’s  children,  we  ought  to  be 
like  our  Father.  He  manifested  his  love  for  all,  and  we  ought 
to  manifest  our  love  for  all.  One  method  of  showing  our  love 
for  all  men  and  doing  all  men  good  would  be  to  pray  for  them. 

2.  There  is  “  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men.”  This 
affords  another  good  reason  for  praying  for  all  men,  but  it  does 
much  more  than  that.  It  gives  us  a  good  insight  to  the  correct 
understanding  of  Christ’s  mediatorship.  There  is  the  fact  that 
there  is  one  Mediator,  not  two,  not  many,  but  only  one.  He 
mediates  between  God  and  men,  not  some  men,  not  a  part  of 
men,  not  the  Jew  nor  the  Gentile,  as  such ;  not  the  rich,  nor  the 
poor,  not  the  king  nor  the  peasant  —  but  he  is  one  Mediator 
between  God  and  men,  all  men,  all  whom  the  word  men  repre¬ 
sents. 

There  being  only  one  Mediator,  the  papal  habit  of  praying 
to  the  saints  to  intercede  for  the  suppliant  is  idolatrous.  There 
is  only  one  Mediator,  but  to  call  on  the  saints  to  intercede  at 
the  throne  above  is  to  make  many  mediators.  To  pray  to  the 
angels  is  to  do  the  same  thing.  To  pray  to  the  Virgin  Mary  is 
to  set  aside  the  one  “  mediator  between  God  and  men.”  It  is 
idolatry.  It  is,  to  worship  the  creature  instead  of  the  Creator. 
It  is  false  worship,  for  there  is  but  one  Mediator. 

All  prayer  to  God  must  be  offered  in  the  name  of  Christ. 
None  but  he,  has  a  right  to  make  intercession  at  the  court  of 
heaven.  He  is  the  “mediator  between  God  and  men”  in  order 
that  by  him  any  man,  who  will,  may  have  access  to  a  throne  of 
mercy.  As  we  can  not  approach  God  in  our  own  name,  we 
need  a  mediator  of  all  men,  so  that  every  man  who  will  may 
be  able  to  come  to  God. 


70 


THE  MOBEKLY  PULPIT. 


The  Mohammedan  has  no  right  to  be  heard,  though  he  pray 
ever  so  often,  for  he  rejects  Christ,  the  one  Mediator.  He  does 
not  come  in  his  name,  nor  ask  to  be  heard  for  his  sake.  He 
violates  the  Scriptures,  which  say:  “Whatsoever  ye  do  in 
word  or  deed,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  giving 
thanks  to  God  aud  the  Father  by  him.”  Col.  iii:  17  Moham- 
medanism,  however  devout,  sins  against  the  teaching  of  this 
Scripture,  for  it  does  nothing  “in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.” 
This  Scripture  is  founded  on  the  fact  that  Christ  is  the  one  only 
Mediator.  The  Christian  ought  to  do  nothing  that  he  can  not 
do  in  the  name  of  his  Mediator. 

Judaism,  under  this  dispensation,  however  devout,  sins  in 
that,  rejecting  Christ,  it  presumes  to  approach  God  in  another 
name  than  that  of  Christ.  Judaism  has,  now,  no  mediator  with 
God.  Moses  is  no  longer  mediator.  Christ  is  the  one  Medi¬ 
ator,  and  Judaism  rejects  him. 

The  moralist,  also,  sins,  however  moral  and  good  he  may  be. 
He  expects  that  God  will  save  him  for  his  good  deods.  He 
ignores  Christ.  He  over-rides  all  idea  of  a  mediator,  and  pre¬ 
sumes  to  come  in  his  own  name.  He  prides  himself  on  being  a 
good  man,  according  to  his  own  standard.  He  claims  to  be 
truthful,  to  be  honest,  to  be  a  good  neighbor,  to  be  kind  to  the 
poor,  to  be  a  good  citizen,  but  he  sees  no  use  of  confessing 
Christ,  of  joining  the  church,  of  being  a  Christian  at  all.  He 
expects  God  to  save  him  for  his  good  deeds.  In  all  this  he 
simply  rejects  Christ  as  Mediator.  He  does  his  good  deeds  in 
his  own  name.  He  commends  himself.  He  is  the  modern 
Pnarisee  who  thanks  God,  if  thankfulness  dwell  in  his  soul  at 
all,  that  he  is  not  like  other  men.  He  has  no  sympathy  with 
the  poor  publican,  who  said,  “  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner.” 
The  Mohammedan,  the  Jew,  the  moralist,  and  all  unbelievers 
reject  the  Mediator,  and  are  thereby  actually  possessed  of  “  no 
hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world.” 

3.  “  The  man  Christ  Jesus.”  This  phrase  added  by  the  apostle 
qualifies  or  explains  who  the  one  Mediator  is.  We  have  before 
shown  Christ  to  be  both  divine  and  human.  The  God-man,  the 
“Emmanuel,”  “  the  man  Christ  Jesus  ”  is  the  “  one  Mediator.” 
The  statement  that  “there  is  one  God,  aud  one  Mediator 
between  God  and  men”  is  in  the  present  tense,  was  present 
when  Paul  wrote,  and  is  present  to-day.  He  is  Mediator  now. 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 


71 


“The  man  Christ  Jesus”  was  officiating  as  Mediator,  in  heaven, 
when  Paul  wrote.  But  he  was  still  a  man.  He  had  not  left  his 
humanity  behind  when  he  went  up  on  high.  As  he  did  not 
leave  the  Godhood  above  when  he  came  down  to  earth  and 
became  a  man,  so  he  did  not  leave  his  manhood  below  when  he 
ascended  to  heaven.  In  heaven  to-day,  at  this  hour,  just  now, 
“the  man  Christ  Jesus  ”  officiates  as  Mediator  on  our  behalf. 
In  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  our  humanity,  our  manhood,  occupies 
high  official  station.  Realizing  this,  let  us,  dear  brethren, 
rejoice  and  be  glad  to-day,  and  let  us  resolve  anew  to  be  faith¬ 
ful  and  true  to  him,  who  to-day  intercedes  for  us  at  “the  great 
white  throne  ”  in  the  golden  city  of  our  God.  “  The  man 
Christ  Jesus  !  ”  Glorious  thought !  God  is  not  draggt  d  down, 
nor  made  dishonorable  in  heaven  by  “  the  man  Christ  Jesus,” 
as  a  man,  officiating  in  heaven  as  “  mediator  between  God  and 
men,”  but  man  is  glorified,  and  lifted  up  and  exalted  to  a  station 
higher  and  grander  than  that  of  the  angels. 

4.  “  Who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all.”  “The  man  Christ 
Jesus”  became  a  ransom,  that  he  might  rescue  us  from  the 
dominion  of  sin  and  death,  and  reconcile  us  to  God.  The  word 
ransom  iu  this  place  comes  from  antilutron  in  the  original, 
and  is  defined,  in  Bagster’s  Lexicon  to  the  New  Testament, 
simply  “  a  ransom.”  No  other  definition  is  given.  It  is  a  com¬ 
pound  word,  its  two  parts  being  the  preposition  anti,  and  the 
noun  lutron.  It  occurs  in  this  passage  only  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment.  It  is  defined  in  the  classics  :  “  The  price  of  redemption, 
ransom-money ;  and,  metaphorically,  any  means  of  ransoming 
or  delivering  from  evil.”  The  simple  word  lutron  was  used 
once  by  the  Lord  himself.  “Even  as  the  Son  of  man  came  not 
to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a 
Tan8om  ( lutron )  for  many.”  Matt,  xx :  28.  Lutron  is  defined 
by  Bagster  to  mean  :  “Price  paid  ;  a  ransom.”  This  is  all  the 
definition  given.  Mark,  x :  45,  records  the  same  words  of 
Christ.  The  word  occurs  no  where  else.  Lutron ,  in  the  class¬ 
ics,  is  defined  to  mean,  “redemption-money,  a  ransom.” 

Now,  let  us  examine  Matt,  xx:  28,  as  closely  and  as  critically 
as  we  can.  Be  it  observed  that  this  language  is  literal.  Meta¬ 
phors  and  figures  are  out  of  the  question  here.  Jesus  here  says 
that  he  came  to  do  two  things.  First,  “  to  minister,”  to  serve. 
Second,  “  to  give  his  life.”  On  this  earth  he  ministered,  liter- 


72 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


ally,  to  the  physical  and  spiritual  good  of  others.  He  did  not 
give  a  figurative  life,  but  his  literal  life.  He  did  not  die  a 
metaphorical  death.  He  died  a  literal  death  on  the  cross.  In 
the  old  grammar  that  we  studied  forty  years  ago,  there  was  a 
syntactical  rule  that  said :  “  Two  or  more  nouns  signifying  the 
same  thing,  are  put  by  apposition  in  the  same  case.”  This  old 
rule  applies  here  exactly.  Jesus  gave  his  life  a  ransom.  Life 
and  ransom  are  both  applied  to  the  same  thing.  Lutron , 
ransom,  we  have  seen  means,  according  to  Bagster, “price  paid.” 
Then,  the  life  of  Jesus  was,  and  is,  the  price  that  he  paid  “for 
many.”  There  seems  to  be  no  escape  from  this,  and  in  our  text 
the  same  truth  is  set  forth  in  the  same  way.  He  “gave  himself 
a  ransom  tor  all.  Here,  himself  and  ransom  are  in  the  same 
case,  because  they  are  both  applied  to  the  same  thing.  Him¬ 
self  is  in  the  objective  case,  after  the  active  transitive  verb,  gave. 
But  ransom  is  also  in  the  objective  case  by  apposition,  because 
it  means  the  same  thing.  Himself  was,  and  is,  the  price  that 
Jesus,  our  Mediator,  paid  “  for  all.”  Then  Jesus  Christ  offered 
up  his  iife,  and  in  offering  up  his  life  he  offered  up  himself,  for 
all,  and  thus  afforded  all  an  opportunity  of  escape  from  the 
thralldom  of  sin  and  death. 

How  perfectly  he  is  fitted,  then,  to  stand  “  between  God  and 
men !  ”  How  complete  a  Mediator  he  is !  Toward  man,  and  to 
the  human  side  of  his  mediatorsbip,  he  presents  infinite  love  to 
win  the  hearts  of  men,  infinite  wisdom  to  arrange  the  plan  of 
redemption,  and  infinite  power  to  accomplish  the  eternal  salva¬ 
tion  of  all  who  will  accept  of  him,  love  him  and  obey  him. 
Toward  God,  his  Father,  and  to  the  divine  side  of  his  media- 
torship,  he  presents  infinite  love,  (he  loves  both  ways.)  infinite 
righteousness,  in  that  he  obeyed  in  all  things  the  will  of  his 
Father;  infinite  justice  in  that,  even  in  human  flesh,  he  had 
satisfied  all  the  demands  of  the  law,  and  infinite  power  to  pre¬ 
sent  his  brethren  in  love,  in  righteousness,  in  justice ;  so  that 
his  own  love,  his  own  righteousness  and  his  own  justification 
could  consistently  be  imputed  to  them,  and  they,  thus,  be 
admitted  into  the  heavenly  mansions  in  the  Father’s  house. 

5.  “To  be  testified  in  due  time.”  These  words  have  been 
regarded  as  of  very  difficult  understanding.  Many  and  con¬ 
flicting  have  been  the  explanations  given.  It  is,  perhaps,  true 
that  the  religious  mind  of  the  last  two  centuries  has  been  led 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 


73 


into  confusion  and  fanciful  interpretations  by  a  very  faulty 
rendering  by  King  James’  translators.  “  To  be  testified  in  due 
time  ”  is  not  at  all  according  to  the  syntax  of  the  original.  •  To  be 
testified,  is  the  king’s  translation  of  a  noun.  “  To  marturion  ” 
is  the  Greek  from  which  they  get  “  to  be  testified.”  Its  literal 
meaning,  in  English,  is :  The  testimony.  The  sixth  verse,  trans¬ 
lated  according  to  the  syntax  of  the  original,  is :  “  Who  gave 
himself  a  ransom  for  all,  the  testimony  at  the  proper  time.” 
We  have  already  seen  that  himself,  and  ransom,  are  in  the 
same  case,  and  governed  by  the  verb,  gave.  The  Greek  for 
himself  is  in  the  accusative  case  governed  by  dous  (gave),  and 
the  Greek  word  for  ransom  is,  by  apposition,  in  the  same  case, 
and  so  is  the  Greek  word  for  the  testimony.  Jesus  gave  him¬ 
self  as  a  ransom  for  all,  and  also  gave  himself  as  the  testimony 
at  the  proper  times.  To  this  there  can  be  no  syntactical  objec¬ 
tion,  and  it  avoids  the  circumlocution  and  the  disregard  of  the 
Greek  syntax  of  the  common  version.  There  only  remains  to 
get  a  correct  understanding  of  what  is  meant  by  our  Mediator 
being  the  testimony  as  well  as  a  ransom. 

The  word  marturion  occurs  in  the  New  Testament  twenty 
times,  and  in  the  common  version,  correctly  rendered  testimony 
fifteen  times;  witness,  in  the  sense  of  testimony,  four  times,  and 
in  our  text,  “  to  be  testified,”  in  violation  of  all  syntax.  Testi¬ 
mony  is  the  correct  rendering  in  every  instance  of  its  occur¬ 
rence.  Let  us  examine  it  carefully.  The  Savior  himself  used 
it  on  the  occasion  of  healing  a  leper.  To  the  healed  leper,  he 
said  :  “See  thou  tell  no  man,  but  go  thy  way,  show  thyself  to 
the  priest,  and  offer  the  gift  that  Moses  commanded,  for  a  testi¬ 
mony  unto  them.  Matt,  viii:  4  ;  Mark  i:  44 ;  Luke  v:  14.  In  all 
the  three  accounts  of  the  healing  of  this  leper,  marturion  is  with¬ 
out  the  article,  and  is  correctly  translated,  a  testimony.  The 
fact  that  the  man  made  the  offering  would  be  a  proof,  testimony, 
that  he  had  been  declared  clean,  so  that  the  people  would  allow 
him  again  to  live  in  the  society  of  other  people.  “Unto  them” 
•is  expressed  in  each  one  of  these  passages  by  the  dative  case  of 
the  pronoun  following  marturion. 

“Ye  shall  be  brought  before  governors  and  kings  for  my 
sake,  for  a  testimony  against  them  and  the  Gentiles.”  Matt,  x: 
18;  Mark  xiii:  9  ;  Luke  xxi:  12,  13.  In  these  Scriptures  it  is 
clear  that  the  fact  that  the  apostles,  to  whom  Jesus  was  talk- 


74 


THE  MOBEKLY  PULPIT. 


ing,  would  be  brought  before  kings  and  rulers,  would  be  a  testi¬ 
mony  against  them.  The  arraigning  of  the  primitive  preach¬ 
ers  of  the  gospel,  caused  the  gospel  to  be  preached  in  kings’ 
nouses.  The  kings,  with  many  of  their  subjects,  rejected  and 
thus  spurned  the  offers  of  the  great  Mediator.  At  the  judg¬ 
ment  of  the  great  day,  they  will  stand  charged  with  grossly 
slighting  and  refusing  the  King  of  kings,  and  the  fact  that 
Christ’s  preachers  had  been  arraigned  before  them  will  be  tes¬ 
timony  against  them.  “Against  them”  and  against  the  Gen¬ 
tiles,  is  here  also  expressed  by  the  dative  case  following  martu- 
rion. 

“And  whosoever  shall  not  receive  you,  nor  hear  you,  when 
ye  depart  thence,  shake  off  the  dus*  under  your  feet,  for  a  tes¬ 
timony  against  them.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  it  shall  be  more 
tolerable  for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  in  the  day  of  judgment, 
than  for  that  city.”  Mark  vi:  11 ;  Luke  ix:  5.  Here  the  sense 
is  very  plain.  At  the  day  of  judgment  these  things  would  be 
testimony  against  these  rejectors  of  the  Messiah.  The  judg¬ 
ment  of  the  great  day  will  be  a  fearful  time  of  reckoning  with 
sinners.  The  very  opportunities  of  the  gospel  and  offers  of 
rejected  mercy  will  then  come  up  as  damning  testimony  against 
them.  Here  also,  “  against  them  ”  is  expressed  by  the  dative  case 
of  the  word  following  marturion.  But  when  the  day  of  judg¬ 
ment  comes,  Jesus  will  be  the  testimony  of  testimonies  against 
persistent  sinners.  He  will  then  be  clothed  with  the  ermine  of 
the  judge,  and  the  garments  of  the  everlasting  priesthood,  and 
have  on  the  crown  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  very  fact  that 
he  gave  himself  a  ransom,  that  he  poured  out  his  precious 
blood,  that  he  submitted  to  be  put  to  death,  that  he  rose  again, 
that  he  went  up  on  high,  that  he  was  preached  to  sinners,  that 
he  pleaded  with  them,  entreated  them  to  come  to  him  and  be 
saved,  and  they  would  nol,  will  all  be  the  awful  testimony  that 
will  consign  to  shame  the  incorrigible  sinner  that  rejected  all 
the  pleadings,  and  tears,  and  sufferings  of  the  Son  of  God. 
The  loving  entreaty  of  the  crucified  Savior,  rejected  to-day, 
will  be  the  blackening  testimony  then,  upon  which  the  scoffer, 
the  unbeliever,  the  liar,  the  drunkard,  the  thief,  the  adulterer, 
the  oppressor,  the  covetous  man,  and  all  that  know  not  God 
and  obey  not  the  gospel,  will  be  consigned  to  everlasting  pun¬ 
ishment  and  be  cast  into  the  lake  that  burns  with  fire  and  brim- 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 


75 


stone;  in  the  first  place,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels. 

There  is  another  aspect  of  the  case  in  which  Jesus  is  the  tes¬ 
timony.  In  the  typical  dispensation  of  Moses,  the  two  tables 
of  stone,  upon  which  God  wrote  the  law,  and  which  were  de¬ 
posited  in  the  ark  of  the  covenant  in  the  most  holy  place  in  the 
tabernacle,  were  called  the  testimony.  This  testimony  was  the 
embodiment  of  authority  and  correct  living.  That  dispensa¬ 
tion  was  all  typical  and  is  all  fulfilled  in  Christ.  When  he  be* 
came  a  ransom  he  became  thereby  the  fulfillment  as  antitype  to 
all  the  sacrificial  ofierings  of  clean  beasts  and  birds  of  the  Mo¬ 
saic  Institution.  Eut  as  every  thing  in  that  dispensation  was 
typical  of  Christ,  did  he  not  at  the  same  time  give  himself,  the 
testimony,  as  well  as  a  ransom,  as  antitype  to  the  testimony  of 
the  law  kept  in  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  in  the  most  holy  place  ? 
He  is  the  embodiment  of  all  law,  of  all  authority,  of  all  right 
living.  These  tables  of  the  law  are  called  the  testimony.  Ex. 
xvi:  34;  xxv:  16,  21 ;  xxvii:  21 ;  xxx:  6 ;  xxxi:  18 ;  xxxii:  15  ;  xxxiv: 
29;  xxxviii:  21,  aud  in  many  other  places.  The  ark  in  which 
the  tables  were  kept  was  sometimes  called  the  ark  of  the  testi¬ 
mony,  because  the  testimony  was  in  it,  and  the  tabernacle  was 
sometimes  called  the  tabernacle  of  the  testimony  because  the 
testimony  in  the  ark  was  in  the  tabernacle,  as  these  references 
will  show  if  examined. 

In* the  ark  were  also  the  pot  of  manna  and  “  Aaron’s  rod 
that  budded.’7  Manna  was  the  typical  bread  from  heaven  with 
which  God  fed  the  bodies  of  his  people  in  the  wilderness. 
Christ  is  the  antitype  bread  from  heaven  with  which  God  feeds 
the  souls  of  his  people  now  in  the  wilderness  of  this  life. 
“Aaron’s  rod  that  budded”  very  fitly  typifies  Christ. 
Christ  brings  the  dead  to  life,  causes  life  and  growth  to  come 
out  of  death,  very  well  foreshadowed  by  the  blossoms  and 
growth  and  fruit  springing  out  of  a  dead  piece  of  wood. 
Then  do  not  the  tables  of  the  testimony  in  the  ark  also  typify 
him?  Is  he  not  the  testimony  in  that  sense  too  in  our  text? 
Marturion  is  followed  by  the  dative  case  here  as  in  other  places. 

We  now  quote  the  text,  amending  the  translation  so  as  to 
make  it  faithful  to  the  Greek  syntax:  “For  there  is  one  God 
and  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus, 
who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all,  the  testimony  for  appropri¬ 
ate  times.” 


76 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


Let  us,  dear  brethren,  be  true  to  our  great  Mediator  1  Let  us 
so  live  that  we  shall  constantly  have  access  to  the  mercy  seat 
above,  through  him.  Let  us  love  and  obey  him.  So  that  he 
will  be  testimony  for  us  at  the  last  day. 

We  now  turn  to  you,  dear  friends,  who  have  not  availed  your¬ 
selves  of  him  as  the  ransom  from  your  sins.  Will  you  listen  to 
his  pleadings  to-day  ?  Accept  him  to-day,  trust  him  to-day,  con¬ 
fess  him  to-day,  obey  him  to-day,  be  a  child  of  God  to-day.  Why 
stay  away?  Delay  is  dangerous.  If  you  die  in  disobedience  to 
him  you  will  be  forever  lost.  To-day  you  have  the  opportunities 
of  the  gospel.  To-morrow  may  not  be  yours.  In  this  life  and  on 
this  earth  you  must  make  preparations  for  eternal  joy  and  life 
and  happiness.  If  you  continue  to  neglect  to  obey  the  Savior, 
during  this  short  life,  you  will  never  attend  to  it,  for  there  is  no 
room  for  repentance  after  death.  The  good  confession  has  to 
be  made  before  men.  If  you  believe  in  him,  if  you  are  penitent 
for  your  past  sins,  we  invite  you  to  confess  him  to-day,  to  be 
baptized  into  his  death  and  receive  the  remission  of  your  past 
sins,  receive  adoption  into  God’s  family,  and  become  an  heir  of 
eternal  life.  Jesus,  the  great  Mediator,  says  come;  the  Bride 
says  come;  the  Spirit  says  come.  We  plead  with  you  to  comer 
While  the  brethren  sing: 

“  Jesus  thou  art  the  sinner’s  friend,” 
we  extend  you  the  Savior’s  loving  invitation. 


SERMON  VI, 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR, 


Preached  Lord’s  Day,  May  2,  1880. 


Texts.— “  He  is  the  Mediator  of  a  better  covenant.” — Paul. 

“  He  is  the  Mediator  ot  the  New  Testament.”— Paul. 

“Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant;-”— Paul. 

My  Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters  : 

We  this  morning  resume  the  study  ot  the  mediatorial  office 
and  work  of  our  dear  Savior.  Fallen,  sinful,  lost  and  dying 
man  is  both  unworthy  and  unable  to  approach  into  the  divine 
and  holy  presence  without  a  mediator.  We  have  already  con¬ 
sidered  “  the  man  Christ  Jesus”  as  the  “ one  mediator  between 
God  and  men,”  as  also  the  “ransom  tor  all,”  and  as  the  one  “to 
be  testified  in  due  time.”  We  have  already  seen  that  Moses,  as 
mediator  between  God  and  Israel,  is  a  type  of  Christ.  He 
being  the  mediator  of  the  first  covenant,  we  will  this  morning 
study  Christ  as  “  the  mediator  of  a  better  covenant,”  and  as 
“the  mediator  of  the  new  covenant.”  We  have  three  texts  be¬ 
fore  us  at  this  time.  In  the  first,  Jesus  is,  in  the  common  ver¬ 
sion,  correctly  styled  “the  mediator  of  a  better  covenant.”  In 
the  second,  he  is  styled  “the  mediator  of  the  New  Testament,” 
and  in  the  third  “  he  mediator  of  the  new  covenant.” 

The  word  coven  nt  in  these  texts  comes  from  diatheekee  in 
the  original,  and  testament  comes  from  the  same  word  in  the 
Greek.  We  shall  tre  t  the  word  testament  as  meaning  exactly 
the  same  thing,  i<  <  ne  of  our  texts,  as  covenant  in  the  other 
two,  because  in  the  original  they  are  the  same  word.  In  this 
discourse,  “ new  covenant”  and  “New  Testament”  mean  the 
same  thing, 
f 


77 


78 


THE  MOB  ERL  Y  PULPIT. 


Diatheekee  is  the  word  used  to  express  a  covenant  between 
God  and  man.  Suntheekee  is  the  word  used  to  express  a  cove¬ 
nant  betweed  man  and  man.  Diatheekee  occurs  in  the  New 
Testament  Greek,  thirty-three  times,  while  suntheekee  does  not 
occur  a  single  time.  The  former  only  expresses  the  idea  of  a 
covenant  where  one  party  makes  all  the  terms,  confers  all  the 
benefits,  and  the  other  only  accepts  the  terms  and  receives  the 
benefits.  Such  a  covenant  is  the  only  one  that  could  be  made 
between  God  and  man.  Man  is  not  wise  enough  nor  good 
enough  to  even  propose  terms  to  God.  Man  can  not  pay  God 
an  equivalent  for  the  blessings.  Hence  the  gospel  covenant  is 
consistent  with  the  idea  of  grace. 

When  men  covenant  with  men,  they  stand  as  equals,  each  one 
rendering  to  the  other  an  equivalent  blessing  for  the  one  that 
he  receives.  Such  a  covenant  is  expressed  in  Greek  by  the 
word  suntheekee ,  which,  as  before  stated,  does  not  once  occur 
in  any  of  the  apostolic  and  evangelistic  writings.  In  a  human 
compact,  both  parties  are  competent  to  make  or  stipulate  con¬ 
ditions,  and  the  old  proverb  that  “  it  takes  two  to  make  a  bar¬ 
gain,”  is  literally  true.  But  when  it  comes  to  God  contracting 
with  poor,  fallen  man,  the  proverb  is  shorn  of  much  of  its  truth. 
God  has  to  offer  and  confer  all ,  absolutely  all  the  benefits,  and 
dictate  all  the  terms.  And  it  is  only  by  God’s  abounding  grace 
that  man  has  the  opportunity  to  accept  of  offered  mercies,  and 
receive  and  enjoy  offered  life  and  joy  and  peace. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  careful  examination  of  our  three 
texts  in  their  connection.  While  we  do  so,  let  us  not  forget  the 
definition  of  the  word  mediator.  He  is  one  who  goes  between 
those  who  are  separated,  who  are  at  variance,  to  bring  them 
together,  to  reconcile  them,  to  restore  unity.  Our  Mediator 
stands  between  God  and  man.  Having  the  nature  and  confi¬ 
dence  of  both,  he  labors  to  reconcile  man  to  God. 

We  now  quote  our  first  text  in  full:  “But  now  hath  he  ob¬ 
tained  a  more  excellent  ministry,  by  how  much  also  he  is  the 
mediator  of  a  better  covenant,  which  wa9  established  upon  bet¬ 
ter  promises.”  Heb.  vii :  6. 

Paul  is  on  the  subject  of  the  priesthood.  He  has  just  stated 
that  Christ’s  priesthood  is  not  earthly  a3  the  Aaronic  priest¬ 
hood  was.  Those  priests  only  “  serve  unto  the  example  and 
shadow  of  heavenly  things,”  even  “as  Moses  was  admonished 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 


79 


of  God  when  he  was  about  to  make  the  tabernacle,”  to  make  it 
in  all  things  “  according  to  the  pattern  ”  that  was  shown  him. 
That  was  a  dispensation  of  shadows  and  patterns,  types.  The 
priesthood  of  that  dispensation  was  earthly,  and  its  service 
only  foreshadowed  the  better  ministry  of  the  heavenly  dispen¬ 
sation.  But  we  are  under  Christ  and  not  the  mere  patterns  of 
heavenly  things.  Christ  officiates  in  a  “more  excellent  minis¬ 
try  ”  or  service,  as  much  better  as  the  mediatorship  of  the  “  new 
covenant”  is  better  than  that  of  the  old.  The  new  covenant  is 
better  than  the  old,  in  that, it  is  “established  upon  better  prom¬ 
ises.” 

The  old  was  established  by  Moses  in  fulfillment  of  the  prom¬ 
ise  of  the  earthly  Canaan,  but  the  new  by  Christ  in  fulfillment 
of  the  promise  of  blessings  “in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus.” 
The  new  covenant  is  better  than  the  old  one  in  the  following 
particulars : 

1.  The  salvation  of  the  old,  the  Mosaic  covenant,  was  a  de¬ 
liverance  from  earthly  bondage  in  Egypt,  while  the  salvation  of 
the  new,  Christian  covenant,  is  a  deliverance  of  the  soul  from 
sin. 

2.  Under  the  old,  Mosaic  covenant,  the  power  of  Egyptian 
tyranny  was  broken,  but  under  the  new,  Christian  covenant,  the 
tyranny  of  Satan  is  broken  to  pieces. 

3.  Through  the  old  covenant,  one  nation  was  honored  and 
blessed,  while  through  the  new  all  nations  are  honored  and 
blessed. 

4.  The  blessings  of  the  old  were  temporal,  while  those  of 
the  new  are  eternal  and  spiritual. 

5.  The  old  had  in  it  no  sacrifice  that  could  take  away  sin, 
while  the  new  has  in  it  “  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,”  by  which  our 
sins  can  be  washed  away  and  our  souls  made  pure  and  clean. 

6.  The  old  had  in  it  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  while  the 
new  has  in  it  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord  from  the  grave  to 

die  no  more,  with  the  promise  that  he  will  raise  us  all  from  the 
dead. 

7.  The  old  covenant  assured  the  faithful  son  of  Abraham  an 
earthly  home  in  a  goodly  laud,  during  his  natural  life-time,  but 
the  new  promises  “many  mansions,”  beautiful  mansions,  ever¬ 
lasting  mansions,  in  the  “Father’s  house.”  Our  mediator  is  fit¬ 
ting  them  up  for  us. 


80 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


8.  Under  the  old,  Israel,  when  their  bodies  were  hungry, 
were  fed  with  manna,  but  under  the  new,  the  spiritual  Israel, 
when  their  souls  are  hungry  and  famishing,  are  fed  on  “  the 
living  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven.  If  any  man  eat 
of  this  bread,  he  shall  live  forever.”  This  bread  is  the  Lord 
Jesus  himself.  Life  under  the  old  was  short,  lasting  but  a  few 
years,  but  under  the  new  covenant  we  shall  live  forever. 

9.  Under  the  old  covenant,  the  children  of  Abraham  in  the 
flesh  boasted  that  Abraham  was  their  father,  but  under  the  new 
we  are  allowed  to  say,  “  Our  Father,  who  art  in  heaven.”  In 
Christ  we  are  akin  to  God. 

10.  Under  the  old  covenant,  they  wore  the  name  Israel,  the 
name  given  to  Jacob  when  he  prevailed,  but  under  the  new  we 
are  allowed  to  wear  the  name  that  “is  above  every  name,”  “a 
more  excellent  name”  than  angels  wear. 

11.  Under  the  old,  there  was  an  earthly  inheritance,  but  un¬ 
der  the  new  a  heavenly  inheritance.  The  earthly  inheritance 
was  perishable.  The  goodly  soil  could  wear  out ;  the  barren 
rocks  could  take  its  place;  the  very  rocks  of  Canaan  can  wear 
away.  The  Jew  of  to-day  sees  his  earthly  heritage  barren  and 
waste,  and  trodden  under  the  grinding  heel  of  the  Moslem 
tyrant,  but  the  “partakers  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light”  will  never  see  their  heritage  in  the  hands  of  an  enemy, 
nor  see  it  blighted,  nor  barren,  nor  waste. 

12.  The  inheritance  under  the  old  covenant  was  limited.  It 
was  bounded  by  the  territorial  limits  of  the  promised  land  and 
the  nationality  of  Israel  in  the  times  of  her  most  honored  kiugs, 
David  and  Solomon.  But  the  iuheritance  of  “the  new  cove¬ 
nant”  is  limitless,  is  boundleeS,  is  infinite.  Our  Mediator,  hav¬ 
ing  reconciled  us  to  God,  has  made  us,  with  himself,  joint  heirs 
to  all  things. 

Then  truly  is  it  said  that:  “He  is  the  mediator  of  a  better 
covenant;”  and  that  this  “better  covenant”  was  also  “estab¬ 
lished  on  better  promises.”  This  “  better  covenant  ”  entitles  us 
as  covenantees,  to  the  remission  of  all  our  sins;  to  deliverance 
from  Satan’s  yoke  of  bondage ;  to  all  the  benefits  of  Christ’s 
atoning  sacrifice;  to  a  resurrection  from  the  dead;  to  a  home 
in  the  Father’s  house,  and  to  live  eternally  in  the  enjoyment  of 
all  the  honors  of  heaven  itself. 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 


81 


Are  we  as  grateful  to-day,  brethren,  tor  such  a  mediator,  as 
we  ought  to  be?  Do  we  realize  in  our  hearts  how  exalted  are 
the  honors  of  this  new  covenant,  given  us  in  the  hand  of  our 
great  Mediator?  Or,  are  our  affections  so  placed  on  the  things 
of  this  world,  and  our  soul  sensibilities  so  blunted  by  the  care 
of  this  world,  that  these  heavenly  honors  have  no  charm  for 
us?  Let  us  now,  at  this  moment,  look  down  into  the  secret 
chambers  of  our  hearts,  and  see  how  they  are  filled.  Does 
Jesus  occupy  the  best  room  in  the  house  of  your  souls  and 
mine?  Or,  are  our  souls  so  filled  with  the  love  of  money,  the 
love  of  gay  apparel,  the  love  of  fashion,  the  love  of  worldly 
honor,  that  the  mediator  of  the  new  covenant  can  find  no  place 
to  dwell?  Let  us  look,  honestly,  and  in  view  of  the  judgment 
to  come,  look  into  our  hearts  in  self-examination,  and  see  if 
Satan  has  been  allowed  a  lurking  place  anywhere?  Self-exam¬ 
ination  is  a  duty.  Lord’s  day  morning  is  a  proper  time  to  at¬ 
tend  to  it.  In  the  Lord’s  house,  with  the  honors  of  the  new 
covenant  before  our  minds,  is  a  good  place  to  turn  the  eyes  of 
our  understanding  inward,  and  see  what  is  there.  If  Satan  be 
found  skulking  there,  expel  him  at  once.  Bid  him  never  show 
his  deceitful  face  there,  in  your  soul- house  again.  He  is  a  lying 
hypocrite ;  he  will  put  on  a  false  appearance  and  make  you 
think  that  he  is  somebody  else.  He  will  deceive  you  if  you 
will  allow  it.  He  generally  works  under  an  assumed  name. 
He  seldom  professes  his  real  purpose.  He  nearly  always  wears 
a  false  exterior.  How  shall  we  now  know  whether  he  has  been 
in  our  hearts  during  the  week  past  ?  Did  any  old  man  or  young 
one  either  allow  himself  to  be  persuaded  to  think  that  his 
stomach  needed  whisky  or  rum,  and,  under  that  impression, 
did  he  go  into  a  saloon  and  pay  money  for  whisky,  or  any  other 
stroug  drink,  and  drink  it?  If  so,  Satan  stole  into  his  soul, 
perhaps  in  the  guise  of  a  friend,  and  induced  him  to  commit 

the  following  sins : 

®  • 

1.  It  was  a  sin  to  go  into  the  saloon.  “Sin  is  the  transgres¬ 
sion  ol  the  law.”  1  Johniii:4.  God’s  law  commands  us  to 
“abstain  trom  all  appearance  of  evil.”  1  Thess.  v:22.  Every 
thing  pertaining  to  a  saloon  has  the  appearance  of  evil,  and  is 
evil.  Frequenting  saloons  is  an  open  violation  of  Scripture, 
and  consequently  a  grievous  sin. 

2.  All  Christians  are  commanded  by  our  Mediator  himself 


82 


.  THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


to  let  their  “light  so  shine  before  men  that  they  may  see”  their 
“good  works,”  and  glorify  their  *  Father  who  is  in  heaven.” 
Going  into  a  saloon  violates  this  Scripture  also.  It  obscures  the 
light;  puts  the  light  “  under  a  bushel.”  The  older  the  man,  the 
more  prominent  he  is  in  the  church,  the  greater  the  sin. 

3.  It  is  a  useless  waste  of  the  Lord’s  money  to  spend  it  for 
saloon  whisky  or  any  other  drink  sold  in  a  saloon. 

4.  Drinking  saloon  whisky  is  a  sin  in  that,  it  pollutes  the 
temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Paul  says:  “Know  ye  not  that 
your  body  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  in  you, 
which  ye  have  of  God,  and  ye  are  not  your  own?”  1  Cor. 
vi :  19.  Whisky  drinking  defiles  the  body.  Beer  drinking  pol¬ 
lutes  the  blood.  Paul  says  in  this  Scripture  that  a  Christian’s 
“body  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit,”  and  that  they  “are 
not”  their  “own.”  In  the  next  verse  he  assigns  the  reason — 
“Ye  are  bought  with  a  price.”  In  our  last  discourse  we  showed 
clearly  that  our  Mediator  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  us.  We 
belong  to  him.  Our  bodies  are  his,  and  we  have  no  right  to 
abuse  them.  In  the  same  verse  Paul  tells  the  Corinthians  and 
all  Christians  to  “glorify  God  in”  their  “body,  and  in”  their 
“  spirit,  which  are  God’s.”  No  man  can  glorify  God  in  his  body 
by  drinking  strong  drink. 

Let  us  look  again  into  our  hearts  and  see  if  during  the  past 
week  any  of  us,  through  the  love  of  money,  have  been  led  to 
over-reach  our  fellow  man  in  a  trade.  Have  we  told  a  customer 
that  an  article  of  goods  would  not  fade,  when  it  will  fade ;  that 
eggs  were  fresh,  when  they  were  not ;  that  butter  was  new, 
when  in  fact  it  was  stale?  Have  any  given  light  weight  or  short 
measure  ?  If  so,  the  devil  has  been  stealthily  lurking  in  your 
heart,  pretending  perhaps  to  be  your  friend,  whispering  in 
your  ear,  “make  money  rapidly.  Y our  family  will  need  a  great 
deal,  and  then  you  ought  to  lay  up  something  for  a  rainy  day.” 
If  you  have  been  thus  led  to  swerve  a  hair’s  breadth  from  the 
line  of  rigid  justice  and  honesty,  then  command  the  wily 
tempter  to  depart  from  your  heart.  Have  any  given  a  loose 
reign  to  the  tongue— that  unruly  member,  let  him  remember 
that  Satan  is  prowling  round  and  insinuating  himself  into  the 
recesses  of  his  heart,  for  “out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart 
the  mouth  speaks,”  and  if  words  of  slander,  malice,  envy,  jeal¬ 
ousy,  hatred,  have  been  escaping  the  lips,  then  we  may  be  sure 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR 


83 


that  the  devil  has  been  tampering  with  the  heart.  Then  let  us 
all  be  very  carelul  to  heed  the  advice  of  the  wise  man :  “  Keep 
thy  heart  with  all  diligence,  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life.” 
If  we  can  at  this  time  make  this  self-examination  candidly  and 
conscientiously,  then  we  can,  with  some  degree  of  satisfaction, 
contemplate  the  high  honors  of  the  new  covenant  to  which  we 
can  attain  through  our  Mediator. 

With  this  look  into  our  hearts  and  this  honest,  searching 
scrutiny  of  the  motives  by  which  we  are  moved,  let  us  proceed 
with  the  investigation  of  our  theme,  as  treated  by  the  apostle 
in  the  words  following:  “And  for  this  cause  he  is  the  mediator 
of  the  New  Testament,  that  by  means  of  death,  for  the  redemp¬ 
tion  of  the  transgressions  that  were  under  the  first  testament, 
they  which  are  called  might  receive  the  promise  of  eternal  in¬ 
heritance.”  Heb.  ix:15.  This  Scripture  has  been  the  subject 
of  much  controversy  among  the  ablest  Bible  students.  Any 
thing  pertaining  to  Christ  is  well  worthy  the  study  of  every 
man.  Let  us,  brethren,  now  attempt  to  understand  these  say¬ 
ings  of  Paul,  concerning  our  Mediator.  We  must  modestly  try 
to  get  beneath  the  surface.  Paul  digs  deep.  So  must  we,  in 
some  measure,  if  we  would  master  the  sublime  truths  and  prin¬ 
ciples  which  he  enunciates. 

Much  of  the  misunderstanding  of  this  Scripture  and  conse¬ 
quent  controversy  about  it,  is  probably  due  to  the  work  of  the 
king’s  translators.  They  have  here  rendered  the  Greek  word 
diatheekee ,  testament,  in  the  sense  of  a  will,  made  by  a  man  dis¬ 
posing  of  his  property,  to  be  executed  after  his  death.  Hence, 
many  have  thought  that  Christ  made  a  will  disposing  of  his 
estate,  to  be  executed  after  his  death.  But  there  are  serious 
objections  to  such  a  theory.  One  is  that  the  word  diatheekee 
nowhere  else  in  the  Scriptures  has  such  a  meaning.  It  is  the 
word  everywhere  else  used  to  express  the  idea  of  covenant  be¬ 
tween  God  and  men.  We  re-translate  the  entire  paragraph 
from  the  fifteenth  verse  to  the  seventeenth,  inclusive,  as  follows : 

“And  for  this  purpose  He  is  Mediator  of  a  new  covenant,  in 
order  that,  death  taking  place  for  redemption  of  the  transgres¬ 
sions  against  the  first  covenant,  the  called  might  receive  the 
promise  of  the  eternal  inheritance,  for  where  a  covenant  is, 
necessity  is,  that  death  of  the  appointed  be  borne,  for  a  cove- 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


Bant  is  sure  upon  dead  (victims)  since  it  is  not  valid  while  the 
appointed  (offering)  lives.” 

In  this  translation  elegance  of  diction  is  entirely  ignored. 
The  effort  is  to  say  exactly  the  same  thing  that  the  Greek  of 
these  verses  says.  There  are  two  covenants  spoken  of  here — 
one  called  the  new,  the  other  the  first.  The  first  was  the 
Mosaic,  the  new  the  Christian.  Moses  was  mediator  of  the  one, 
and  Christ  mediator  of  the  other.  The  Mosaic  is  called  the 
first,  because  it  preceded  the  other  in  the  order  of  events.  The 
Christian  is  called  the  new,  because  it  is  of  later  date  and  be¬ 
cause  it  displaces  the  other,  and  further  because  it  affords  more 
blessings  and  better  ones  than  the  other  could  offer  to  humanity. 
In  this  Scripture  the  writer  sets  forth  the  purpose  of  the  medi- 
atorship  of  Christ.  It  is  in  order  that  “  the  called  might  re¬ 
ceive  the  promise  of  eternal  inheritance.”  The  first  covenant 
made  no  such  promise.  A  temporal  inheritance  was  all  that  it 
could  offer.  There  was  in  it  no  sufficient  redemption  of  the 
sins  committed  under  it.  Those  even,  to  whom  God  gave  the 
first  covenant,  could  not  attain  to  an  eternal  inheritance  through 
its  provisions,  on  account  of  the  transgressions  they  committed 
against  it  and  under  it.  It  rejected  the  sinner,  but  was  unable 
to  take  away  his  guilt. 

Christ’s  death  taking  place  for,  in  order  to,  redemption  of  the 
transgressions  committed  by  those  under  the  first  covenant, 
presents  him  in  his  true  light  as  Mediator  between  God  and 
man.  He  died  not  only  for  the  sins  of  those  of  his  day,  and  for 
our  sins  who  have  lived  since  his  day  on  earth,  but  also  for  the 
sins  of  the  men  who  lived  and  died  before  he  came  down  to 
earth.  He  is  the  Mediator  between  God  and  all  men.  The  sins 
of  the  Patriarchs  and  Jews  were  had  in  God’s  remembrance 
until  Christ  entered  upon  the  work  of  reconciliation,  giving 
his  blood  and  his  life  that  all  men  might  have  an  opportunity 
of  escape  from  sin  and  death.  When  a  righteous  man  of  Israel 
under  the  first  covenant,  in  faith,  in  penitence,  brought  the 
offering  stipulated  in  the  first  covenant,  God  forgave  his  sins, 
but  not  through  the  offering  presented,  but  through  Christ’s 
offering,  typified  by  all  the  sacrifices  of  the  first  covenant. 

God  is  infinite.  The  past,  the  present  and  the  future  are  all 
present  to  him.  He  knows,  as  infallibly,  what  he  will  do  to¬ 
morrow,  as  he  knows  what  he  does  to-day.  The  blood  of  his 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 


85 


Son,  shed  on  the  cross  and  offered  in  the  court  of  heaven,  was 
always  as  present  to  him,  as  much  a  reality  to  him,  in  Adam’s 
day,  in  Job’s  day,  in  Abraham’s  day,  and  in  the  days  of  the 
first  or  Mosaic  covenant,  as  now.  God  could,  and  did,  release 
the  pious  patriarch  and  pious  Jew  from  his  sins  through  the 
sacrificial  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  then  yet  to  be  shed,  as  safely 
as  he  can  now  forgive  the  believers,  through  the  same  blood, 
now  already  shed.  The  sacrifice  of  Christ’s  precious  blood 
was  as  infinitely  sure  to  God  then  as  now.  Otherwise  there 
could  have  been  no  salvation  for  any  man  living  and  dying 
before  Christ  came.  “  Without  shedding  of  blood  is  no  remis¬ 
sion.”  The  blood  shed  had  to  be  Christ’s,  too.  No  other  could 
take  away  sin.  “It  is  not  possible  that  the  blood  of  bulls  and 
of  goats  should  take  away  sins.”  No  blood  would  do  but  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb.  Had  that  blood  been  not  infinitely  sure, 
the  typical  offerings  would  have  been  utterly  worthless.  But 
that  being  to  God  perfectly  sure,  he  released  the  sinner  under 
the  first  covenant  and  carried  his  sins  forward,  remembering 
them  every  year,  until  the  atoning  blood  is  actually  offered. 
Then  they  were  blotted  out  to  be  reme  mbered  no  more  forever. 
Thus,  Christ  died  for  the  sins  of  men  of  all  ages.  Thus  Christ 
stands  as  Mediator  between  God  and  men  of  all  ages,  Patri¬ 
archs,  Jews,  Christians,  making  them  heirs  to  the  “eternal  in¬ 
heritance.” 

To  enable  any  sinner  to  come  to  God,  to  be  reconciled  to 
God,  to  be  one  with  God,  it  always  has  been  necessary,  and 
always  will  be  necessary,  that  there  be  a  sufficient  sacrifice,  an 
atoning  sacrifice,  a  cleansing  sacrifice  of  shed  blood  between 
them.  God  always  saw  the  Lamb,  slain  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world,  present  before  him,  between  himself  and  sinful 
man.  But  man  could  not  see  him.  While  to  God  he  was  slain 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world,”  to  man  he  was  not  yet  slain, 
not  yet  offered.  To  reconcile  a  sinner  to  God,  his  sins  must  be 
taken  away  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  Sin  is  the  cause  of  the 
separation  of  man  from  God.  It  is  sin  that  alienates  the  man 
from  his  Maker.  Then,  when  the  blood  of  Christ  cleanses  the 
sinuer  from  his  sins,  his  alienation  is  gone,  he  is  reconciled. 
Sin  removed,  the  cause  of  separation  from  God  is  gone,  and 
the  man  is  united  to  God.  The  atonement,  the  at-one-ment  is 
accomplished. 


86 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


But  to  bring  this  happy  result  about,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
Lamb  slain,  his  blood  being  shed,  is  the  unifying  agency  and 
power.  Both  parties  to  the  separation  must  see  him,  must 
recognize  him,  must  meet  together  in  him.  But  before  he  came 
to  this  world  and  died,  no  man  could  come  to  him  directly. 
Hence  the  typical  lamb,  kid,  bullock,  turtle  dove  and  young 
pigeon.  The  man  could  (in  faith  in  God,  as  the  one  God,  and 
in  obedience  to  his  command,  bring  his  sin-offering  to  the  priest 
at  the  altar,  and,  through  the  offering  foreshadowing  the  Christ, 
its  blood  shed,  typifying  the  shed  blood  of  the  Son  of  God), 
meet  with  God  and  be  forgiven,  God  referring  his  sins  to  the 
blood  of  Calvary,  that,  to  him,  was  infallibly  sure.  This  is 
how,  and  why,  that  the  death  of  Christ  took  place  for  redemp¬ 
tion,  in  order  to  redemption  of  the  transgression  against  the 
first  covenant.  This  is  how,  and  why,  Christ  died  for  all  men ; 
for  those  of  Patriarchal  and  Jewish  times;  for  those  whose 
entire  earth  lives  preceded  his  incarnation  and  his  suffering. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  purpose  of  Christ’s  being 
“Mediator  of  the  new  covenant”  is  that  “the  called”  might 
be  heirs  to  “the  eternal  inheritance.”  Who  are  the  called? 
All  who,  having  heard  the  invitations  of  the  gospel,  believed 
in  Jesus  and  obeyed  his  commandments.  The  called  are  Chris¬ 
tians.  “Blessed  are  they  who  are  called  unto  the  marriage 
supper  of  the  Lamb.”  Rev.  xix :  9.  The  Greek  for  called  here 
is  the  same  as  in  our  text.  The  called,  then,  are  they  who  are 
to  be  present  at  the  marriage  feast,  when  the  Son  of  God  takes 
his  bride,  his  church,  home  to  his  Father’s  home.  Through  his 
mediatorship,  they  are  now  the  possessors  of  the  promise  of 
eternal  inheritance.  Do  we  to-day,  brethren,  rejoice  in  this 
glorious  promise?  If  so,  happy  are  we.  But,  if  we  are  think¬ 
ing  more,  and  talkiug  more  about  an  earthly,  perishajble  inheri¬ 
tance,  and  laboring  more  to  obtain  the  corruptible  things  of 
this  life,  than  we  think,  talk  and  work  for  the  estate  that  is 
eternal,  then  we  are  become  lukewarm,  like  the  Laodiceans. 
They  set  their  hearts  on  earthly  goods,  and  became  proud  of 
their  temporal  wealth.  If  we  allow  things  on  the  earth  to 
absorb  our  affections  and  become  vainly  proud,  like  they  did, 
the  Lord  “will  spue”  us  out  of  his  mouth  as  he  did  them.  The 
Lord  is  disgusted  with  those  who  profess  to  wear  his  name  and 
are,  at  the  sane  time,  more  gratified  with  the  wealth  of  this 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 


87 


world,  than  with  “the  promise  of  eternal  inheritance.”  He 
expresses  that  disgust  with  the  strong  figure,  “I  will  spue  thee 
out  of  my  mouth.”  Then,  dear  brethren,  to-day,  let  us  realize 
that  this  “promise  of  eternal  inheritance  ”  is  far  more  precious 
than  rubies  and  gold.  Kejoice,  sisters,  rejoice,  brethren,  be  glad 
to-day  that,  through  the  mediatorial  work  of  our  Lord,  we  have 
given  to  us  so  precious  a  promise.  Beware  of  negligence  and 
indiflerence,  and  lukewarmness. 

But,  what  is  “eternal  inheritance?”  All  earthly  estates  are 
squandered  and  lost,  sooner  or  later.  The  crowns  that  decked 
the  brows  of  ancient  kings  are  perished.  Ancient  Babylon, 
Nineveh,  Thebes  and  Memphis  are  long  since  blotted  out,  and 
their  glory  departed.  The  empires  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  Cyrus, 
Alexander  and  the  Caesars  are  all  gone,  to  return  no  more  for¬ 
ever.  The  dynasties  of  ancient  royalties  have  all  disappeared. 
The  pyramids,  even,  are  crumbling,  and  the  rocky  ribs  of  earth’s 
crust  are  wearing  away.  The  sublunary  heavens  and  earth  are 
to  be  rolled  together  as  a  scroll,  “  shall  pass  away,”  “  shall  be 
burned  up.”  But  there  is  an  inheritance  that  is  absolutely 
eternal,  that  will  never  “pass  away,”  will  never  be  “burned 
up.”  We  repeat  the  question  :  What  is  it?  At  the  judgment 
Christ  will  say  to  the  righteous:  “  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my 
Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  the  world.”  Matt,  xxv  :  34.  The  eternal  inheritance, 
then,  has  in  it  a  kingdom  ;  a  kingdom  that  will  not  pass  away, 
that  will  never  be  overthrown.  By  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  from  the  dead  we  are  “begotten”  “to  an  inheritance, 
incorruptible  and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved 
in  heaven  for  you.”  1  Pet.  i :  4. 

There  are  three  descriptive  words  here  applied  to  the  inheri¬ 
tance.  It  is  “incorruptible.”  It  is  not  only  not  corrupt,  but  it 
can  not  be  corrupted.  It  is  imperishable.  It  is  “undefiled,” 
pure,  chaste.  It  “  fadeth  not  away.”  The  original  says  unfad¬ 
ing.  It  not  only  is  not  fading, but  can  not  fade.  Itis  “reserved 
in  heaven  for  you,” —  for  Christians.  Peter  is  writing  to  Chris¬ 
tians.  This  imperishable,  chaste,  unfading  inheritance  is  laid 
up,  kept  in  store  in  heaven,  for  all  Christians.  “Every  one 
that  hath  forsaken  houses,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or 
mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands,  for  my  name’s  sake,  shall 
receive  an  hundred  fold,  and  shall  inherit  everlasting  life.” 


88 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


Matt,  xix:  29.  These  are  the  words  of  Jesus,  and  he  puts 
“  everlasting  life  ”  in  the  inheritance.  Then  the  eternal  inheri¬ 
tance  is  unending  life  in  the  enjoyment  of  an  imperishable 
estate,  and  the  exercise  of  princely  authority  in  an  everlasting 
kingdom.  To  maintain  the  Christian  character,  by  continuous 
faithfulness  to  the  requirements  of  the  gospel,  is  the  means  by 
which  we  may  attain  to  the  possession  of  the  eternal  inheri¬ 
tance.” 

“For  where  a  testament  is,  there  must  also,  of  necessity,  be 
the  death  of  the  testator.”  We  have  already  re-translated  this 
to  read  thus  :  “For  where  a  covenant  is,  necessitjr  is,  that  the 
death  of  the  appointed  (one)  be  borne.”  We  have  already 
given  the  reason  for  rejecting  the  word  testament,  and  using 
the  word  covenaut.  We  now  give  a  further  reason.  Wills, 
testaments,  do  not  need  mediators,  but  administrators.  But 
Jesus  is  a  Mediator.  The  mediatorial  office  is  very  different 
from  that  of  the  executor  of  a  will.  Where  God  covenants 
with  man,  he  appoints  an  offering  to  be  killed.  When  the  vic¬ 
tim  is  slain,  and  its  blood  offered,  the  covenant  is  of  force,  is 
ratified,  is  sure.  Hence,  when  God  covenants  with  man,  the 
death  of. the  appointed  victim  is  a  necessity,  to  make  it  sure. 
Under  the  new  covenant,  Christ  is  the  appointed  offering  for 
the  surety  of  the  promise,  in  that  covenant,  of  the  remission  of 
sins,  and  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  Without  Christ’s 
death  and  sufferings  these  promises,  in  the  nature  of  the  case, 
would  not  be  assured  to  us.  But  with  his  death  they  are  sure. 
This  is  the  apostolic  thought,  and  not  the  making  of  a  will. 
Christ,  instead  of  being  a  testator,  is  the  one  appointed.  A 
testator  appoints.  But  the  Greek  in  this  case  is  thanatou  *  * 
tou  diathemenou  —  death  *  *  of  the  appointed  (one),  not  death 
of  the  testator,  who  appoints. 

“For  a  testament  is  of  force  after  men  are  dead;  otherwise, 
it  is  of  no  strength  at  all  while  the  testator  liveth.”  We  have 
re-translated  this  verse  thus:  “For  a  covenant  is  sure  upon 
dead  (offerings)  since  it  is  not  valid  while  the  appointed  (ofler- 
ing)  lives.”  There  is  no  word  in  the  Greek  of  this  verse  for 
the  word  men.  The  adjective,  nekros,  the  dead,  is  there  in  the 
dative  case  plural.  Christ,  as  we  have  seen,  was  the  appointed 
offering.  Without  his  death,  the  covenant  would  not  have  been 
binding.  The  covenant  became  sure  to  man  when  Christ  died, 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 


89 


not  as  a  testator,  will-maker,  but  as  the  appointed  sin-offering 
to  take  away  the  sins  of  men. 

To  show  the  correctness  of  this,  we  quote  the  very  next 
verse :  “  Whereupon,  neither  the  first  testament  was  dedicated 
without  blood,  for  when  Moses  had  spoken  every  precept  to  all 
the  people  according  to  the  law,  he  took  the  blood  of  calves 
and  of  goats,  with  water,  and  scarlet  wool  and  hyssop,  and 
sprinkled  both  the  book  and  all  the  people,  saying:  This  is  the 
blood  of  the  testament  which  God  hath  enjoined  unto  you.’r 
Verses  18,  19,  20.  The  word  covenant  in  these  verses  would 
take  the  place  of  testament  in  a  better  rendering.  This  is  the 
ratification  of  the  first  covenant.  It  is  introduced  here  by  the 
apostle  to  illustrate  the  points  that  we  have  been  investigating. 
God  made  a  covenant  with  Israel,  typical  of  the  one  under 
which  we  live.  Did  the  calves  and  goats  that  died,  die  as  tes¬ 
tators,  will-makers  ?  No  one,  for  a  moment,  believes  such  an 
absurdity.  They  died  as  appointed  offerings.  Their  blood  was 
a  type  of  Christ’s.  As  appointed  offerings,  they  could,  and 
did,  typify  Christ  as  an  appointed  offering.  But  no  animal 
could  be  a  type  of  him  as  a  testator  or  will-maker.  Let  the 
word  covenant  be  received  as  the  better  rendering  of  diatheekee 
and  much  confusion  will  disappear. 

We  now  quote,  and  proceed  to  examine  our  third  text :  “  But 
ye  are  come  unto  Mount  Zion,  and  unto  the  city  of  the  living 
God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  to  an  innumerable  company 
of  angels;  to  the  general  assembly,  and  church  of  the  first-born, 
which  are  written  in  heaven,  and  to  God,  the  Judge  of  all ;  and 
to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  and  to  Jesus  the  medi¬ 
ator  of  the  new  covenant,  and  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  that 
speaketh  better  things  than  that  of  Abel.”  Heb.  xii :  22,  23,  24. 
In  this  sublime  Scripture,  the  divine  penman  is  exalting  the 
Christian’s  lofty  honors  and  connections  above  that  enjoyed  by 
those  living  under  the  law.  He  is  setting  forth  the  blessings  of 
the  “better  covenant”  of  which  Christ  is  Mediator.  There 
are  eight  glorious  honors  here  mentioned,  all  grander  and  better 
than  any  thing  the  law  was  able  to  afford.  We  will  examine 
them  in  numerical  order,  not  that  these  things  have  an  order  of 
events,  as  first,  second,  third.  There  is  one  act  of  coming. 
The  one  coming  brought  those  addressed,  to  eight  things  that 
are  mentioned.  We  will  examine  them  in  the  order  of  men- 


90 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


tioning  in  the  text.  This  coming  to  all  these  honors  is  by  faith : 

1.  “But  ye  are  come  unto  Mount  Ziou.”  This  coming  into 
all  these  honors  and  blessings  is  through,  and  by  means  of 

Christ's  mission  and  sufferings.  Mount  Zion  is  here  made  the 

♦ 

type  of  God’s  duelling  jflace.  Israel,  by  the  mediatorship  of 
Moses,  had  come  to  thundering  Sinai ;  but  we,  through  Christ, 
come  to  the  heavenly  Mount  where  God  dwells.  Through 
faith  in  Christ,  we  are  made  rightful  citizens  of  heaven ;  and  if 
we  continue  faithful  to  Christ,  we  shall  as  surely  dwell  there  as 
Caleb  aud  Joshua  entered  into  aud  dwelt  in  Canaan.  The 
Christian’s  privilege  is  as  much  superior  to  the  Jews,  under  the 
law,  as  heaven  is  better  than  Canaan. 

2.  “And  unto  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jeru¬ 
salem.”  Through  the  law,  the  fleshly  Israel  had  access  to,  and 
rights  and  honors  in,  the  earthly  Jerusalem.  But,  through  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  we  have,  by  faith,  access  to  the  honors  of  the 
Jerusalem  that  is  above.  Our  connection  with  Christ  consti¬ 
tutes  us  rightful  heirs  to  all  the  glories  of  the  heavenly  city ; 
and,  if  we  are  faithful  to  him,  we  shall  as  certainly  enter  the 
golden  city  as  Caleb  and  Joshua  entered  the  promised  land. 
Our  honor  is  as  much  higher  than  theirs  as  heaven  is  higher 
than  earth. 

3.  “And  to  an  innumerable  company  of  angels,  to  the  general 
assembly.”  We  re-translate  this,  aiming  to  adhere  rigidly  to 
the  Syntax :  ADd  to  myriads  of  angels,  a  festive  assembly. 
This  is  just  what  the  Greek  says,  and  the  meaning  is  that, 
coming  into  the  pure  relation  with  Christ,  we  enjoy  a  union 
with  all  the  vast  host  of  angelic  beings.  All  faithful  disciples 
of  Christ  will  eventually  join  company  with  the  legions  of 
angels  in  one  vast,  grand  and  glorious  assembly,  to  celebrate 
the  love  of  God  and  the  victory  of  our  Mediator  over  sin  and 
death.  Grand,  glorious  assembly  that!  Shall  we  be  in  that 
grandest  of  all  assemblies?  Brethren,  sisters,  let  us  resolve 
now,  that  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  a  faithful  continuance  in 
well-doing,  that  we,  each  one  of  us,  will  constitute  one  in  that 
glorious  meeting  “around  the  great  white  throne.” 

4.  “And  church  of  the  first-born  which  are  written  in  heaven.” 
The  church  consists  of  human  beings  redeemed  from  sin. 
Through  Christ  we  are  constituted  members  of  the  church ; 
each  one  of  us  is  as  much  a  part  of  the  church  as  your  eye  is  a 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 


91 


part  of  your  self.  No  wonder  that  it  is  said  when  one  member 
suffers,  all  the  members  suffer  with  it.  How  careful  each  one 
of  us  ought  to  be  not  to  do  any  thing,  not  to  say  any  thing, 
that  in  any  way  will  bring  pain,  reproach,  or  shame  upon  the 
church,  and  give  all  members  of  the  body  pain. 

The  church  is  also  called  a  family.  Our  text  says  it  is 
“written  in  heaven.”  The  father  of  any  well  regulated  family 
keeps  a  family  record.  God  is  the  Father  of  this  family,  and 
he  keeps  one,  too,  keeps  it  in  heaven.  Is  your  name,  my 
brother,  or  my  sister,  on  the  family  record  in  heaven  ?  Then 
try  to  live  every  day,  every  hour,  so  that  your  soul  shall  be 
pure,  and  white,  and  clean. 

Our  Father  keeps  also  a  “book  of  remembrance.”  That  will 
be  a  faithful  record.  There  will  be  no  “  white-washing”  of  sins 
on  the  pages  of  that  book.  If  we  do  well,  it  will  be  there 
written  to  our  honor.  But  if  we  have  been  unfaithful,  have  set 
our  hearts  on  things  on  the  earth,  conformed  to  the  world,  and 
have  been  rebellious,  it  is  recorded  against  us.  If  we  are  selfish, 
grasping,  if  we  are  stingy,  our  very  Stinginess  goes  to  record 
in  black  lines  on  the  book  that  will  be  opened  and  read  at  the 
judgment,  in  the  presence  of  men,  angels  and  devils.  May  the 
Lord  help  us  to  so  live  that  these  things,  “written  in  heaven  ” 
cause  us  not  to  seek  to  hide  our  heads  in  shame  when  the  books 
shall  be  opened ! 

5.  “And  to  God  the  judge  of  all.”  Yes!  Through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  we  are  come  to  God.  We  are  become  his  children. 
We  are  become  partakers  of  the  divine  nature.  We  are  near 
kin  to  God.  Upon  us  rests  the  responsibility  of  living  worthily 
of  so  near  a  relation  to  God.  The  Jews  never,  under  the  law, 
received  such  honors  as  these.  If  we  follow  in  the  footsteps  of 
Jesus  we  shall  maintain  our  near  kindredship  to  God. 

6.  “And  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect.”  Through 
the  mediation  of  Christ,  we  that  live  yet  on  the  earth  and  in 
the  flesh,  are  come  to,  and  united  in  fraternal  fellowship  with 
those  whose  spirits  are  made  perfect.  All  the  truly  pious  wor¬ 
shipers  of  both  Patriarchs  and  Jews  were  made  absolutely 
perfect  in  spirit  when  the  blood  of  Jesus  was  offered.  Their 
sins  could  be  no  more  remembered  forever,  and  their  spirits, 
being  no  longer  connected  with  mortal  bodies,  are  perfect.  In 
Christ,  we  are  in  spirit,  by  faith,  united  to  them.  Thus,  Abel 


92 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


and  Job,  Enoch  and  Elijah,  Abraham  and  David,  Moses  and 
Daniel  are  perfect  in  spirit,  and  are  our  brethren.  If  we  con¬ 
tinue  true  to  our  profession,  we  shall  also  have  perfect  spirits 
after  awhile,  and  we  shall  join  iheir  company  in  person,  and  be 
with  them  forever. 

7.  “And  to  Jesus,  the  mediator  of  the  new  covenant.”  This 
is  the  crowning  consideration.  All  the  other  privileges  which 
we  have  been  considering  depend  on  this  one.  Take  this  one 
away,  and  they  all  fall.  The  man  who  has  not  come  to  Jesus, 
has  come  to  none  of  these  glorious  blessings.  But  every  one 
who  comes  to  Jesus,  comes  to  all  these  at  the  same  time.  In 
him  we  can  also  plead  with  God  for  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins, 
and  he  will  hear  us,  and  grant  our  requests.  As  Jesus  stands 
between  us  and  God,  he  pleads  our  cause  and  intercedes  in  our 
behalf.  Our  poor,  weak  prayers,  when  offered  in  his  name, 
become  mighty  in  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  hosts.  As  Moses 
plead  for  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  so  Christ  pleads  mightily 
for  us.  He  is  ready  and  willing  to  help  us  at  all  times.  He 
will  save  all  who  come  to  him. 

8.  “And  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  that  speaketh  better 
things  than  that  of  Abel.”  In  coming  to  Christ,  his  blood  is 
applied  to  our  hearts,  and  our  guilty  souls  are  cleansed  from 
the  pollutions  of  sin.  As  when  the  blood  of  clean  beasts  and 
clean  birds,  under  “the  first  covenant,”  was  sprinkled,  there 
was  a  ceremonial  cleansing,  so  under  “the  new  covenant,’ 
where  “  the  blood  of  sprinkling  ”  applies  to  our  hearts,  there  is 
an  actual  purification  of  our  spirits  from  the  guilt  of  sin. 

The  common  version  is  not  correct  in  one  particular.  The 
Greek  does  not  say  that  the  blood  of  Christ  speaks  better 
things  than  the  blood  of  Abel  speaks.  It  seems  that  the  king’s 
translators  thought  ihat  it  did,  however,  for  they  have  forced 
the  version  that  they  made  to  say  so.  The  meaning  is,  that  the 
blood  of  Christ  speaks  a  better  thing  than  Abel  speaks.  We 
re-translate  thus  :  And  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  speaking  a 
better  ( thing )  than  Abel  ( speaks ). 

But  we  must  close.  We  now  ask  you,  dear  friends,  who  have 
never  come  to  Jesus,  the  lover  of  your  souls,  to  turn  to  the 
Lord  to-day.  We  ask  you  to  come  to  him,  to  his  precious 
blood,  and  thereby  to  come  to  Mount  Zion,  to  the  heavenly 


CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 


93 


Jerusalem,  to  the  angelic  assembly,  to  the  church  written  in 
heaven,  to  God  himself,  to  the  spirits  of  just  ones  perfected. 
Why  not  come  to-day  and  confess  him?  While  the  brethren 
sing, 

£‘  Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul,” 

we  plead  with  you,  in  bis  name,  to  come  before  it  be  too  late,. 


g 


SERMON  VII, 


CHRIST  THE  HIGH  PRIEST, 

Preached  Lords  Day,  June  13,  1880. 


Texts. —  “Jesus,  made  an  high  priest  forever  after  the  order  of  Mel¬ 
chisedec.” — Paul. 

“  Thou  art  a  priest  forever,  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec.”— David. 

“  The  Lord  sware  and  will  not  repent,  thou  art  a  priest  forever,  after 
the  order  of  Melchisedec.” — Paul. 

My  Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters: 

We  still  continue  to  prosecute  the  stuuy  of  our  Lord  and 
Savior  in  his  official  relations  to  us.  We  have  already  given 
attention  to  his  divine  nature,  then  his  human  nature,  and  next 
his  mediatorship.  ISIow  we  ask  your  earnest  attention  and 
careful  consideration  of  his  priesthood,  as  set  forth  in  the  Book 
of  God.  Without  the  exercise  of  the  priestly  office,  there  could 
be  no  salvation  for  lost  sinners.  All  religions  have  their  priests, 
and  their  altars  and  their  offerings.  God  has  inseparably  con¬ 
nected  the  forgiveness  of  sins  with  the  offering  of  bloody 
sacrifice.  “Without  the  shedding  of  blood  is  no  remission.” 

A  priest  is  “one  who  performs  sacrificial  rites.” — Bagster. 
The  first  mentiou  of  a  priest,  by  use  of  that  word  in  the  Bible, 
is  in  Gen.  xiv:  18,  where  Moses  calls  Melchisedec  “the  priest 
of  the  most  high  God.”  Melchisedec  was  not  an  Israelite.  He 
was  cotemporary  with  Abraham,  and  to  him  Abraham  paid 
tithes.  There  was  then  a  divinely  recognized  priesthood  in  the 
Patriarchal  age  as  well  as  in  the  Jewish  and  Christian.  The 
Egyptians,  at  a  later  day,  had  a  priesthood  that  was  deemed  so 

important  that,  when  Joseph  bought  all  the  lands  of  Egypt  for 

95 


96 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


Pharaoh,  in  the  time  of  the  famine,  the  priests  were  allowed  to 
retain  their  lands,  uliile  all  other  citizens  gave  up  theirs  to  the 
kiDg  in  exchange  for  bread.  At  still  a  later  day  we  learn  that 
Reuel,  or  Jethro,  was  priest  of  Midian.  The  false  gods  of  the 
heathen  also  had  their  priests,  and  altars,  and  offerings,  and 
temples. 

While  the  word,  priest,  does  not  occur  earlier  than  the  time 
of  Melchisedec  and  Abraham,  sacrifices  were  offered  by  Abel, 
in  the  first  family  of  the  human  race.  The  office  of  priest  in 
the  Patriarchal  age,  as  exercised  by  Melchisedec,  was  of  divine 
authority. 

We  now  proceed  to  examine  our  first  text:  “Which  hope 
we  have  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  both  sure  and  steadfast,  and 
which  entereth  into  that  within  the  veil,  whither  the  fore¬ 
runner  is  for  us  entered  ;  even  Jesus,  made  an  high  priest  for¬ 
ever,  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec.”  Heb.  vii:  19,  20.  Paul 
is  here  speaking  of  the  Christian’s  hope  as  an  anchor,  holding 
the  soul  fast  to  the  things  within  the  veil,  that  is  in  heaven. 
Into  the  same  place  Jesus,  as  our  fore-runner,  has  already 
entered.  On  earth  he  taught  men,  comforted  the  sorrowful, 
fed  the  hungry,  healed  the  sick,  opened  blind  eyes,  made  deaf 
ears  hear,  made  lame  feet  walk,  made  tongues  that  were  dumb 
talk,  and  restored  the  dead  to  life.  He  suffered  the  bitterness 
of  a  most  cruel  death,  while  on  this  earth,  in  order  that  there 
might,  through  him,  be  offered  to  the  sons  of  men  deliverance 
from  sin  and  death.  But  he  has  entered  into  heaven  to  officiate 
as  a  priest,  to  make  the  necessary  offering  for  sin.  On  earth  he 
was  not  a  priest,  but  in  heaven  he  is  a  priest.  In  connection 
with  our  text,  we  quote  from  the  Hebrew  letter  as  follows: 
“  Wherefore  in  all  things  it  behooved  him  to  be  made  like  unto 
his  brethren,  that  he  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  high 
priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  reconciliation  for 
the  sins  of  the  people.”  ii :  17. 

We  learn  from  this  quotation,  that,  preparatory  to  Christ’s 
entering  upon  the  priestly  office,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to 
become  a  man,  “  to  be  made  like  unto  his  brethren,”  to  be  made 
like  them  “in  all  things.”  Though  he  officiates  in  heaven,  he  is 
still  a  man,  a  glorified  man.  He  is  both  merciful  and  faithful. 
He  feels  our  infirmities,  though  in  heaven,  and  is  true  to  all 
that  God  has  promised  us.  The  end,  or  purpose,  of  his  priest- 


CHRIST  THE  HIGH  PRIEST. 


97 


hood  is  “to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the  people,” 
The  next  verse  says:  “For  in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered, 
being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  succor  them  that  are  tempted.” 
The  fifteenth  verse  of  the  fourth  chapter  says  that  “  we  have 
not  an  high  priest  who  can  not  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of 
our  infirmities ;  but  was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are, 
yet  without  sin.”  These  scriptures  make  him  just  such  a  high 
priest  as  we  need.  He  meets  our  needs  in  the  following  par¬ 
ticulars  : 

1.  He  is  touched  with  our  weaknesses.  When  we  are  lonely 
and  sad,  he  cheers  us.  When  our  hearts  are  broken  with 
sorrow,  he  comforts  us. 

2  When  we  are  tempted  to  do  wrong,  he  is  able,  he  is  will¬ 
ing,  he  is  glad,  to  succor  us  in  the  hour  of  temptation.  He, 
only,  “is  master  of  the  situation”  in  the  hour  of  our  tempta¬ 
tions.  He  will  not  allow  us  to  be  tempted  beyond  our  strength. 
He  “  will  with  the  temptation  also  make  a  way  to  escape,  that 
we  may  be  able  to  bear  it.”  Temptation  would  drag  us  down 
continually  were  it  not  that  we  have  such  a  high  priest  in  the 
court  ot  heaven. 

3.  Whenever  we  sin,  which  we  so  often  do,  our  High  Priest  is 
our  only  sufficiency.  Any  one,  single  sin,  would  drag  us  down  to 
everlasting  perdition  were  it  not  that  our  great  High  Priest  has 
a  sufficient  offering,  laid  upon  heaven’s  altar,  to  blot  out  every 
sin  of  the  confiding  soul  who  penitently  comes  to  him  in 
obedience  to  his  commandments.  This  brings  us  to  consider 
the  words,  “  To  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the  people.” 
President  Milligan  very  properly  says :  “  These  words  indicate 
the  main  purpose  of  Christ’s  priesthood.  He  became  such  a 
priest  as  he  is,  in  order  to  expiate,  by  means  of  his  death,  the 
sins  of  the  people.  The  word  here  rendered  ‘to  make  recon¬ 
ciliation  for,’  ( hilaskomai )  means,  in  classic  Greek,  to  appease, 
or  to  propitiate;  as,  for  instance,  when  Homer,  Hesiod  and 
others,  speak  of  appeasing  the  wrath  of  the  gods  by  means  of 
sacrifices.”  Com.  p.  102. 

President  Milligan  is  right  about  the  use  of  this  word.  The 
ancient  Greeks  supposed  the  gods  to  be  angry  with  them,  and 
they  thought  to  put  their  gods  in  good  humor  by  offering  sacri¬ 
fices.  They  thought  that  the  act  expressed  by  the  active  tran¬ 
sitive  verb,  hilaskomai,  terminated  on  the  gods,  taking  away 


98 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


their  wrath.  Paul  using  this  word,  and  the  common  version 
rendering  it  “to  make  reconciliation  for,”  many  have  gotten 
the  idea  that  our  God  is  angry,  and  that  the  offering  made  by 
Christ,  our  high  priest,  was  designed  to  appease  his  wrath,  to 
put  him  in  good  humor  with  men.  President  Milligan  expresses 
the  meaning  of  the  word  in  English  by  the  word  expiate. 
Expiate  means:  “  To  extinguish  the  guilt  of  by  sufferance  of 
penalty,  or  some  equivalent ;  to  make  satisfaction,  or  reparation 
for ;  to  atone  for,  as  to  expiate  a  crime.” — Webster.  Taking 
expiate,  in  the  sense  of  Webster,  “to  extinguish  guilt,”  we 
translate  the  passage  literally  and  accurately  as  follows : 
“  Wherefore,  in  all  things  it  behooved  him  to  be  made  like  unto 
his  brethren,  that  he  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  high 
priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  in  order  to  expiate  the  sins 
of  the  people.”  If  reconciliation  be  the  idea,  then  the  Greek 
says  :  To  reconcile  the  sins  of  the  people.  Let  the  verb  hilas- 
komai  be  translated  to  reconcile,  if  that  be  the  meaning.  But 
to  reconcile  sins  is  an  absurdity.  A  man  can  be  reconciled,  but 
not  his  sins.  Sins  can  be  expiated,  their  guilt  extinguished, 
blotted  out.  This  is  exactly  what  our  High  Priest  does  for  us 
when,  in  faith,  we  come  to,  and  avail  ourselves  of  his  offering. 
When  the  love  of  sin,  in  the  heart,  is  removed  by  faith  in 
Christ,  when  the  practice  of  sin  ceases,  in  obedience  to  Christ, 
and  when  the  guilt  of  sin  is  extinguished,  by  the  blood  of 
Christ,  the  sinner  is  then  fully  reconciled  to  God.  But  the 
reconciliation  is  expressed  by  another  word,  and  not  hilas- 
komai.  Expiation,  or  extinction  of  the  guilt  of  sin  is  one 
thing,  and  the  reconciliation  of  a  man  to  God  is  quite  a  different 
thing.  The  former  is  Christ’s  act,  the  latter  is  the  man’s  act. 

There  is  this  difference  between  a  heathen  worshiper  and  a 
Christian  worshiper:  They  both  bring  a  sacrifice.  The 
heathen  expects,  by  means  of  his  offering,  to  extinguish  the 
wrath  of  his  angry  god,  and  make  him  gentle,  loving  and  kind. 
The  Christian,  if  he  be  intelligent,  comes  by  faith  in  the  offering 
already,  once  for  all,  laid  upon  the  everlasting  altar  in  heaven, 
expecting,  not  to  extinguish  the  wrath  of  his  angry  God,  but 
that,  by  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  offering,  Christ,  his  High 
Priest,  will  extinguish  the  guilt  of  his  sins,  and  thus  enable  him 
to  come  into  the  Lord’s  presence,  and  be  recognized  as  the 
Lord’s  child. 


CHRIST  THE  HIGH  PRIEST. 


99 


We  now  proceed  to  quote  our  second  text :  “  The  Lord  hath 
sworn  and  will  not  repent,  Thou  art  a  priest  forever,  after  the 
order  of  Melchisedec.”  Psalm  cx:  4.  The  Jewish  priests  were 
very  particular  to  keep  the  line  of  descent  from  Aaron  very 
clear;  but  when  Christ  assumed  the  priestly  office  he  claimed 
no  such  descent.  He  was  not  of  the  priestly  tribe.  His  priest¬ 
hood  is  “  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec.”  Melchisedec  had  no 
predecessor  in  office  ;  neither  has  Christ.  He  had  no  successor, 
neither  will  Christ  have  a  successor.  Melchisedec  was  greater 
than  Abraham.  So  is  Christ.  But  the  Jewish  priests  were  the 
children  of  Abraham,  and  Christ,  being  greater  than  Abraham, 
is,  of  course,  superior  in  his  office  of  priest  to  the  Jewish  priest¬ 
hood. 

The  Psalmist  says  positively  that  “  the  Lord  hath  sworn  ” 
that  he  (Christ)  should  be  a  priest  like  Melchisedec.  There  is 
no  mistake  at  this  point,  for  Paul  quotes  this  language  and 
applies  it  to  Jesus.  The  Jewish  priest  could  only  officiate  for 
the  Jews.  But  Melchisedec,  as  “  priest  of  the  most  high  God,” 
came  out  to  meet  Abraham,  of  another  nation.  He  seems  to 
have  been  recognized  of  God  as  priest  for  any  people.  So  is 
Christ.  Any  man,  of  any  tribe,  or  tongue,  or  blood,  may  come 
to  the  Lord  Jesus,  have  his  sins  expiated  through  his  offering, 
and  become  an  heir  of  life. 

Another  important  point  of  similarity  between  the  two  is 
that  Melchisedec  was  a  king.  None  of  the  Levitical  priests 
were  kings.  But  Christ,  like  Melchisedec,  is  “King  of  kings  ” 
as  well  as  priest.  Christ’s  is  a  royal,  princely,  kingly  priest¬ 
hood.  Melchisedec  means  “  by  interpretation,  king  of  right¬ 
eousness,  and  after  that  also  king  of  Salem,  which  is  king  of 
peace.”  Christ  is  a  priest  like  that.  He  is  a  king  in  righteous¬ 
ness,  and  lifts  those  whose  sins  he  expiates  up  to  the  character 
of  righteous  princes.  He  is  King  of  peace,  and  raises  them  up 
to  the  honored  name  of  peace-makers.  He  makes  us  both 
kings  and  priests  to  God.  Rejoice,  and  be  glad  to-day,  brethren, 
that  we  are  made  the  royal  family  of  both  heaven  and  earth  in 
righteousness  and  peace.  If  we  shall  only  be  faithful,  be 
righteous,  be  peaceable,  be  promoters  of  righteousness  and 
peace  a  little  while  on  earth,  we  shall  join  company,  in  a  little 
while,  with  both  Melchisedec  and  Jesus,  and  be  crowned  with 
glory  and  honor  in  the  heavenly  world. 


100 


THE  MOBEREY  PULPIT. 


The  appointment  of  Christ  to  the  priesthood  was  confirmed 
with  an  oath.  The  oath  of  the  Lord,  like  God  himself,  is  too 
high  for  our  comprehension.  But  when  the  Lord  of  heaven 
makes  a  promise  that  he  himself  deem3  of  such  transcend  ant 
importance  that  he  makes  oath  to  it,  we  may  rest  assured  that 
it  is,  in  its  bearings  on  humanity,  infinite  in  importance,  infinite 
in  its  effects  upon  our  destiny.  There  may  be,  perhaps  are, 
reasons  for  the  oath  in  heaven  and  in  eternity,  beyond  our 
comprehension.  The  oath  was  made  and  known  in  the  days  of 
David,  if  not  earlier.  No  other  priesthood  was  so  honored,  so 
far  as  we  know. 

There  are  several  things  that  God  has  sworn  to.  He  swore 
by  himself,  because  there  was  none  greater,  to  Abraham  that  he 
would  bless  him,  that  he  would  multiply  his  children  as  the 
stars  of  heaven,  and  as  the  sands  of  the  sea  shore,  that  his  chil¬ 
dren  should  possess  the  gate  of  their  enemies,  and  that  in  his 
seed  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed.  Gen.  xxii : 
16-18.  This  oath  of  the  Lord  included  both  the  fleshly  and  the 
spiritual  children  of  Abraham.  This  oath  of  the  Lord  was  re¬ 
peated  to  Isaac  and  Jacob.  Moses  in  earnest  entreaty,  when 
pleading  with  the  Lord  for  the  Israelites,  referred  to  this  oath 
when  he  said  to  the  Lord:  “Remember  Abraham,  Isaac  and 
Israel,  thy  servants,  to  whom  thou  swarest  by  thine  own  self, 
and  saidst  unto  them,  I  will  multiply  your  seed  as  the  stars  of 
heaven,  and  all  this  land  that  I  have  spoken  of  will  I  give  unto 
your  seed,  and  they  shall  inherit  it  forever.  Exodus  xxxii :  13. 

The  Lord  is  of  loving  mercy  and  tender  kindness.  He  not 
only  allowed  Moses  to  plead  with  him  for  rebellious  Israel,  and 
to  remind  him  of  his  oath  to  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
but  he  also  granted  Moses  his  request.  There  is  another  oath 
of  the  Lord  that  every  human  being  would  do  well  to  heed. 
Every  member  of  the  human  race  of  every  land,  tribe  and 
tongue  is  vitally  interested  in  this  oath  of  our  God.  “  Look 
unto  me  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth :  for  I  am 
God,  and  there  is  none  else.  I  have  sworn  by  myself,  the  word 
is  gone  out  of  my  mouth  in  righteousness,  and  shall  not  return, 
that  unto  me  every  knee  shall  bow,  every  tongue  shall  swear.” 
Isa.  xlv :  22,  23. 

Men  can  refuse  to  bow  the  knee  now,  but  the  time  will  come 
when  they  will  have  to  do  it,  though  it  may  be  too  late  to  do 


CHRIST  THE  HIGH  PRIEST. 


101 


them  good.  God’s  majesty  and  authority  will  be  maintained. 
'God  has  sworn  by  himself  that  all  knees  and  tongues  shall  sub¬ 
mit.  The  man  who  bows  now,  confesses  now,  of  his  own  tree 
will  and  accord,  the  Lord  will  forgive,  honor  and  bless.  Paul 
quotes  this  language  in  Rom.xiv  :  11,  and  says :  “As  I  live  saith 
the  Lord,  every  knee  shall  bow  to  me,  and  every  tongue  shall 
confess  to  God."”  All  are  invited  now,  all  are  earnestly  besought 
to  confess  the  Lord  now,  and  bow  the  knee  to  him  now,  and 
those  who  do  it  will  be  honored  and  loved  of  God.  But  those 
who  will  not  do  it  now  and  persist  in  disobedience  to  the  end  of 
this  life  will  have  it  to  do  when  the  day  of  rewards  are  past. 
The  scoffing  atheist,  who  befouls  his  mouth  with  blasphemy 
now,  will  finally  get  down  on  his  knees  in  shame  and  disgrace, 
and  with  his  mouth  in  the  very  dust,  as  it  were,  confess  the 
Lord.  But  to  every  man  is  offered  the  privilege  of  confessing 
him  with  honor  and  glory  to  himself.  O,  how  short-sighted, 
how  exceedingly  unwise  the  man  who  persists  in  disobedience 
to  God!  Why  will  not  men  see  the  folly  of  sin  before  it  is  too 
late? 

Again  :  “But  if  ye  will  not  hear  these  words,  I  swear  by  my¬ 
self,  saith  the  Lord,  that  this  house  shall  become  a  desolation.” 
Jer.  xxii:5.  The  Lord  said,  by  the  prophet,  to  the  king  of 
Judah:  “Execute  ye  judgment  and  righteousness,  and  deliver 
the  spoiled  out  of  the  hand  of  the  oppressor :  and  do  no  wrong, 
do  no  violence  to  the  stranger,  the  fatherless  nor  the  widow, 
neither  shed  innocent  blood  in  this  place.”  Verse  3.  Upon  the 
condition  that  the  king  of  Judah  would  do  these  righteous 
things,  the  Lord  promised  prosperity  to  the  king  and  to  those 
over  whom  he  ruled.  But  upon  the  condition  that  he  would 
not  do  them  the  Lord  took  an  oath  by  himself  “  that  this  house 
shall  become  a  desolation.”  They  did  not  obey  the  Lord,  and 
the  Lord  executed  his  oath  to  the  letter.  His  house  did  “become 
a  desolation.”  The  oath  of  the  God  of  heaven  is  infinitely  sure. 
What  God  has  sworn  to  is  infallibly  certain.  He  promised,  and 
made  oath  to  it  that :  “  Thou  art  a  priest  forever  after  the  or¬ 
der  of  Melchisedec.”  Paul,  beyond  all  question,  applies  this  to 
Christ,  and  to  our  Elder  Brother.  Those  then  who  love  and 
obey  God  have  the  assurance  of  a  priest  all  sufficient  and  for- 
«ver. 

To  be  “  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec,”  he  had  to  be  a  man. 


102 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


Hence  Christ  Jesus  became  a  man  and  dwelt  among  men.  To 
be  “  forever  ”  he  must  be  also  God.  Christ’s  priesthood,  then, 
is  a  human  priesthood,  constituted  at  the  same  time  a  divine 
priesthood.  He  does  not  officiate  on  earth,  but  in  heaven.  He 
did  not,  while  on  earth,  act  the  part  of  a  priest,  but,  glorified 
and  coronated  King  in  heaven,  he  entered  upon  the  priestly 
office  at  heaven’s  altar  in  the  heavenly  court.  Without  this  no 
sin  could  have  been  permanently  taken  away.  Any  priesthood, 
merely  earthly,  was  incapable  ot  making  an  offering  that  could 
take  away  sin.  Sin  is  an  offense  against  God,  who  is  eternal, 
against  his  law  which  also  is  eternal.  Then  to  expiate  sin, 
there  had  to  be  a  priest,  to  make  an  offering  for  sin,  who  was 
commensurate,  in  being  with  God  and  with  eternity  itself- 
But  there  was,  and  is,  no  being  but  God,  who  is  commensurate 
with  him  in  being.  God  is  commensurate  in  being  only  with 
himself.  All  things  else  are  younger  than  he.  Then  in  some  sense 
God  must  become  the  priest  to  make  the  offering,  that  could 
expiate  sin.  But  the  law,  God’s  own  law,  said  “  without  shed¬ 
ding  of  blood  is  no  remission.”  Then  this  divine,  infinite  priest 
must  have  blood  to  offer,  or  there  could  be  no  expiation  of  sin, 
no  extinguishing  the  guilt  of  sin.  The  problem  to  be  solved 
then  was  how  to  have  a  divine  priest,  God  officiating  as  priest, 
the  God-priest  with  shed  blood  to  offer  for  sin.  The  solution 
of  this  problem  “is  the  mystery  of  godliness:  God  was  mani¬ 
fest  in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  Spirit,  seen  of  angels,  preached 
unto  the  Gentiles,  believed  on  in  the  world,  received  up  into 
glory.”  1  Tim.  iii :  16.  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  God  manifest 
in  the  flesh,  had  blood  to  shed  as  a  victim,  as  a  lamb,  on  the 
earth  and  on  the  cross,  which  he  could  offer,  which  he  did  offer, 
which  he  now  is  offering  for  your  sins  and  mine.  His  precious 
blood  is  a  present  offering  for  our  sins.  It  was  sufficient  for 
every  man,  under  the  old  dispensations,  who  loved  and  obeyed 
God.  It  was  sufficient  for  the  sins  of  all  at  the  time  of  the 
crucifixion,  who  believed  in  him  and  obeyed  him.  It  is  still 
sufficient  for  us,  if  we  believe  in  him,  love  him,  and  obey  his 
commandments.  His  precious  blood  shed  on  Calvary  and  of¬ 
fered  in  heaven,  expiates,  extinguishes  the  guilt  of  our  sins. 
The  high  priest  went  once  a  year  into  the  most  holy  place  in 
the  tabernacle  of  Moses  and  officiated  there.  When  the  service 
of  the  offering  was  completed  he  came  out  to  the  people  and 


CHRIST  THE  HIGH  PRIEST. 


103 


they  received  the  benefit  of  the  offering  he  made,  and  it  was 
good  for  one  year,  when  the  sacrifice  had  to  be  renewed.  Our 
high  priest  has  gone  into  the  most  holy  place  of  the  heavenly 
tabernacle,  and  is  officiating  for  us  there.  We  need 
him  there  continually.  We  need  him  there  at  this  very 
moment.  The  whole  human  race  needs  him  there  to 
expiate,  by  means  of  his  precious  blood,  its  continued  sins. 
Men  sin,  as  long  as  they  continue  in  the  flesh  at  least,  and  will 
need  the  office  of  the  priesthood  as  long  as  they  continue  on 
earth,  and  as  long  as  any  one  of  them  continues  to  dwell  in  this 
world.  The  very  best  man  in  the  world,  the  most  devoted  fol¬ 
lower  of  Christ,  is  liable  to  be  overtaken  in  a  fault.  Hence  the 
purest  Christian  needs  the  continual  exercise  of  the  priestly 
office  of  the  “King  of  Righteousness”  and  of  the  “King  of 
Peace.” 

How  does  a  sinner,  living  to-day,  receive  the  benefit  of  the 
offering  made  by  our  royal  high  priest?  To  answer  this  ques¬ 
tion  we  divide  it  into  two :  1.  How  does  an  alien  sinner  receive 
the  benefit  of  the  priestly  office  of  Christ?  2.  How  does  an 
offending  child  of  God  get  the  benefit  of  the  offering  made  at 
heaven’s  altar  by  the  high  priest  of  our  profession  ?  To  answer 
the  first  question,  we  explain,  that  we  mean  by  an  alien  sinner 
any  person  who  has  attained  to  the  years  of  moral  responsi¬ 
bility  and  who  has  never  acknowledged  nor  obeyed  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Such  an  one  has  resting  upon  his  soul  all  the  past  sins 
of  his ^life.  The  guilt  and  turpitude  of  all  the  wrongs  that  he 
has  ever  committed  attach  to  his  soul.  His  heart  is  corrupted 
by  the  pollutions  of  every  wicked  act  that  he  ever  did.  His 
spirit  is  blackened  by  every  foul  word  that  has  ever  escaped 
his  lips.  The  very  fountains  of  his  soul  are  filled  with  the  mire 
and  filth  of  the  wicked  thoughts  that  have  been  allowed  a 
dwelling  place  and  a  welcome  in  his  mind.  The  guilt  of  his 
first  impure  thought,  the  offense  of  the  first  wicked  word,  the 
criminality  of  the  first  sinful  act,  all  still  stick  to  his  soul.  His 
first  sin  is  still  unforgiven.  All  subsequent  sins,  whether  many 
or  few,  remain  uuforgiven,  and  the  load  of  them  all  weighs  the 
soul  down  and  drags  it  down  to  everlasting  perdition  and  woe. 
Such  is  an  alien  sinner.  He  is  a  stranger  to  the  kingdom  of 
God.  His  soul  has  never  yet  been  affected  by  the  priesthood 
of  Christ.  The  offering  has  not  yet  touched  his  heart.  The 


104 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


answer  to  our  question  involves  the  law  of  pardon  to  an  alien. 
We  have  already  seen  that  there  is  no  remission  of  sins  without 
the  shed  blood  of  Christ  offered  above.  The  law  of  pardon, 
then,  is  the  process  by  which  such  a  sinner  can  come  into  con¬ 
tact  with  the  offered  blood  of  Christ.  The  process  stated,  with¬ 
out  stopping  to  argue  it  here,  is  as  follows:  (1.)  The  alien  must 
hear  the  gospel.  (2.)  He  must  believe  it  with  all  his  heart,  so 
that  he  may  come  by  faith.  (3.)  He  must  repent  of  all  his  past 
sins,  must  turn  away  from  them,  must  cease  to  practice  them. 
He  must  be  sorry  enough  for  his  sins  to  quit  them.  (4.)  He, 
having  first  believed  and  then  repented,  is  commanded  to  be 
buried  with  his  Lord  and  Master  in  baptism.  (5.)  When  he 
does  this  the  Lord  forgives,  remits,  blots  out  all  his  past  sins. 
There  are  two  good  reasons  why  the  Lord  pardons  all  his  past 
sins  at  that  particular  moment.  One  is  that  all  gospel  blessings 
come  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  the  believing,  peni¬ 
tent  sinner  comes  into  the  name  of  the  Lord  when  he  is  bap¬ 
tized.  The  other  is,  that  he  is  baptized  into  the  death  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  Lord’s  blood,  which  cleanses  from  all  sin,  was 
shed  in  his  death,  and  when  the  body  of  the  believing  penitent 
is  buried  in  the  likeness  of  the  burial  of  the  Lord’s  body,  and 
raised  up  in  the  likeness  of  his  resurrection,  his  spirit  comes 
under  the  influence  of  the  cleansing  element  in  Christ’s  offer¬ 
ing — his  shed  blood,  which  was  shed  for  the  remission  of  sins — 
and  his  sins  are,  by  the  blood  of  ‘‘the  crucified  One,”  all  blotted 
out  and  the  guilt  of  them  extinguished.  His  sins  being  gone, 
the  man  is  become  a  child  of  God  and  an  heir  of  God.  He  has 
attained  to  the  full  benefit  of  Christ’s  priestly  office  for  the 
alien  sinner. 

-4  _ 

The  answer  to  our  second  question  involves  the  law  of  par¬ 
don  for  the  child  of  God  who  offends.  If  the  gospel  were 
purely  legalistic  we  could  none  of  us  attain  to  heaven,  though 
we  be  no  longer  aliens.  We  do  not,  we  can  not,  live  perfect 
lives,  even  after  becoming  members  of  the  Church.  This  is 
where  our  High  Priest  is  so  infinitely  valuable  to  us.  His  offer¬ 
ing  is  our  means  of  escape  from  the  consequence  of  our  many 
offendings.  The  law  ot  pardon  for  an  erring  brother  has  in  it 
three thiDgs:  (1.)  Confession  of  the  sin.  “If  we  confess  our 
sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse 
us  from  all  unrighteousness.”  1  John  i:  9.  (2.)  Repentance. 


CHRIST  THE  HIGH  PRIEST. 


105- 


(3.)  Prayer.  “Repent,  therefore,  of  this  thy  wickedness,  and 
pray  God,  if  perhaps  the  thought  of  thine  heart  may  be  for¬ 
given  thee.”  Acts  viii :  22.  In  these  scriptures,  erring,  sinning 
disciples  are  taught  to  confess  their  sins,  to  repent  of  their  sins, 
and  to  pray  for  forgiveness.  Simon  also  asked  Peter  and  John 
to  pray  for  him  that  he  might  escape  the  consequences  of  his 
sin.  But  when  we  pray  we  always  come  in  the  name  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ;  we  only  ask  to  be  forgiven  for  his  sake,  in 
his  name  and  through  the  offering  of  his  shed  blood.  This 
prayer  brings  our  souls  to  the  altar  of  God  with  the  blood  of 
our  High  Priest  on  it,  and  in  the  expiation  of  our  every  sin  we 
get  the  full  benefit  of  his  offering. 

We  now  quote  our  third  text  in  full:  “The  Lord  sware  and 
will  not  repent,  thou  art  a  priest  forever  after  the  order  of  Mel- 
chisedec ;  by  so  much  was  Jesus  made  a  surety  of  a  better  cove¬ 
nant.”  Heb.  vii :  21,  22.  This  is  a  quotation  of  our  previous 
text  from  David,  with  the  language:  “By  so  much  was  Jesus 
made  the  surety  of  a  better  covenant”  added.  We  use  the 
word  covenant  where  the  common  version  has  testament.  In 
this  verse  we  encounter  a  new  word  applied  to  Jesus  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  fact  that  he  was  appointed  to  the  office  of 
priest  by  an  oath  of  the  Lord.  We  have  before  us  three  com¬ 
mentators— Dr.  Adam  Clark,  Dr.  Albert  Barnes  and  Pres’t  R. 
Milligan.  They  each  have  a  different  view  of  the  idea  repre¬ 
sented  by  the  word  surety,  or  rather  about  the  word  enguos , 
rendered  surety.  Dr.  Clark  thinks  that  it  is  used  in  the  sense 
of  mesitees  —  mediator.  But  this  seems  hardly  possible.  The 
two  words  are  quite  distinct  in  their  meaning.  Dr.  Barnes 
seems  to  think  that  the  meaning  is,  that  Christ,  by  virtue  of 
his  appointment  as  a  priest  by  an  oath,  became  man’s  bondsman 
or  security  that  the  law  against  sin  should  be  satisfied,  and  man 
thereby  justified;  that,  becoming  a  man  and  giving  himself  a 
ransom  for  sin  and  his  blood  for  the  expiation  of  sin,  he  satis¬ 
fies  all  the  demands  of  the  law  against  the  sinner.  This  view 
of  the  case  will  be,  or  rather  has  been,  received  by  many.  “The 
word  enguos  does  not  occur  elsewhere  in  the  New  Testament; 
but  in  classic  Greek,  it  means  a  surety ,  a  sponsor,  or  a  bondsman: 
one  who  pledges  his  name,  property  or  influence  that  a  promise 
shall  be  fulfilled,  or  that  something  else  shall  be  done.  In  this 
sense  it  is  manifestly  used  in  our  text.  Jesus  has  become  the 


106 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


surety,  sponsor,  or  bondsman  of  the  New  Covenant.  *  *  * 

*  *  The  argument  of  the  apostle  requires  us  to  understand 
this  security  as  given  on  the  part  of  God  for  the  greater  en¬ 
couragement  and  consolation  of  his  children;  just  as  he  gave 
the  oath  to  Abraham  and  to  his  seed  after  him.  ‘Jesus,’ says 
Lunemann,  ‘is  become  the  surety  of  a  better  covenant;  that  is, 
in  his  person  security  is  given  to  men  that  a  better  covenant  is 
made  and  sanctioned  by  God.  For  Christ,  the  son  of  God,  be¬ 
came  man  to  publish  this  covenant  on  earth ;  he  has  sealed  it 
with  his  death  and  sufferings;  and  by  his  resurrection  from  the 
dead,  he  was  declared  with  power  to  be  sent  by  God  as  the 
founder  of  such  a  covenant.’” 

With  the  further  fact  that  God’s  oath  appointed  his  Son  priest 
forever,  that  the  priesthood  continues  forever,  we  close  this  dis¬ 
course.  Each  one  of  us  needs  this  priestly  work  of  our  Mas¬ 
ter  every  day,  and  if  his  priesthood  were  to  terminate  now  we 
should,  none  of  us,  ever  reach  heaven.  We  shall  need  to  plead 
his  offering  the  last  day  that  we  live  on  earth.  We  shall  need 
it  at  the  judgment  of  the  great  day,  for  his  priesthood  will  be 
our  title  to  a  mansion  in  the  Father’s  house.  Through  his 
priesthood,  he  will  introduce  us  into  the  society  of  the  heav¬ 
enly  world.  We  are  to  be  the  companions  of  the  angels  who 
never  sinned.  But  sinners  as  we  are  could  never  be  made  the 
companions  of  sinless  angels,  or  any  oth«r  sinless  beings,  with¬ 
out  Christ’s  priestly  office  to  extinguish  the  guilt  of  our  sins. 
Let  us,  dear  brethren,  be  very  careful  to  heed  Paul’s  admoni¬ 
tion,  when  he  says :  “  Seeing  then  that  we  have  a  great  high 
priest,  that  has  passed  into  the  heavens,  Jesus  the  Son  of  God, 
let  us  hold  fast  our  profession.”  Yes,  “  let  us  hold  fast  our  pro¬ 
fession.”  Let  us  ever  cling  to  Jesus,  be  faithful  to  him,  love 
him,  trust  him,  obey  him  even  unto  death.  Then  all  the  glo¬ 
ries  of  heaven  will  be  ours. 

Now  we  turn  to  you,  dear  friends,  who  are  yet  aliens  and 
strangers  to  our  great  high  priest,  and  ask  you  to  obey  him 
now,  confess  him  to-day,  receive  the  expiation  of  your  sins  to¬ 
day,  become  a  child  of  God  to-day  and  be  an  heir  of  eternal 
life  to-day. 

While  the  brethren  sing : 

“  Come  to  Jesus  now,” 

we  earnestly  invite  you,  and  plead  with  you  to  come. 


SERMON  VIII, 


BACCALAUREATE  SERMON, 

Delivered  before  the  Graduating  Class  of  Christian 
University  at  Canton,  Mo.,  June  3, 1880. 


Text.— “  Study  to  show  thyself  approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that 
needeth  not  to  he  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth. ’’—Paul. 

Young  Gentlemen  and  Ladies: 

In  accordance  with  a  time  honored  custom  we  are,  to-day, 
assembled  in  this  temple  of  learning  to  witness  the  closing  scene 
of  your  student  life,  and  the  beginning  of  your  wider  career  on 
the  broader  stage  of  human  life.  One  part  of  the  day’s  pro¬ 
ceedings  is  the  addressing  to  you  of  a  Baccalaureate  Sermon. 
Upon  the  invitation  of  my  highly  esteemed  brother  and  your 
beloved  President,  R.  Linn  Cave,  I  have  consented  to  undertake 
the  task  of  addressing  to  you  that  discourse.  Allow  me  to  say 
that  I  feel  honored  in  being  permitted  to  stand  in  this  place  and 
to  talk  to  a  graduating  class  of  Christian  University.  I  have 
always  been  proud  of  the  work  done  by  this  Institution.  Her 
founders  and  her  distinguished  presidents  have  been  my  breth¬ 
ren.  Though  some  have  “  passed  over  the  river,”  they  are  still 
my  brethren  beloved. 

Our  text  to-day  is  the  following  language  :  “Study  to  show 
thyself  approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be 
ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth.”  2  Tim.  ii :  15 

You  recognize  these  as  the  words  of  the  apostle  Paul.  They 
are  addressed  to  a  young  man.  This  young  man  was  a  preach¬ 
er  of  the  gospel  and  a  teacher  in  the  church.  They  express  the 

apostle’s  advice,  exhortation,  command  to  him  in  that  capacity. 

107 


108 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


Yet  there  is  valuable  thought  there  for  every  person,  especially 
for  the  young,  for  the  educated  young.  The  first  thought,  ta 
which  we  invite  your  attention,  is  expressed  by  the  word  work¬ 
man.  Wherever  a  workman  is,  there  is  work  to  do,  labor  actu¬ 
ally  performed. 

The  word  workman  is  from  ergatees  in  the  original,  aud  oc¬ 
curs  in  the  New  Testament  sixteen  times,  and  means  a  laborer 
in  any  department  of  human  activity.  It  is  rendered  laborer, 
workman,  and  worker.  It  applies  to  the  man  who  labors  with 
his  hands  on  the  farm  or  in  the  shop,  or  anywhere  else.  It  also 
applies  to  the  man  who  toils  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord  in 
things  spiritual.  This  word  suggests  to  us,  at  once,  that  in  the 
economy  of  God  there  is  work  to  be  done.  Work  is  expected 
of  every  man.  An  idle  person  is  not,  and  can  not  be  a  Chris¬ 
tian.  You  have  just  completed  an  appointed  amount  of  mental 
labor  belouging  to  the  curriculum  of  study  in  this  University. 
It  was  work  from  the  day  of  your  matriculation  until  the  day 
of  your  graduation.  If  any  of  you  have  been  looking  forward 
to  this  day  as  a  release  from  hard  work,  you  have  been  making 
a  sad  mistake.  If  you  have  been  looking  forward  to  this  day 
as  a  simple  release  from  the  disciplinary  restraint  and  lawful 
control  of  your  teachers,  you  have  been  making  a  sad  mistake. 
But  I  am  sure  that  the  President  of  this  Institution  and  his  co¬ 
laborers  are  too  wise  and  have  too  just  a  conception  of  human 
life,  and  too  conscientious  a  regard  for  their  duty  to  you,  to 
allow  you  to  have  fallen  into  any  such  mistake. 

The  day  of  graduation  brings  with  it  a  doubling  of  the  work 
to  be  done.  It  does  not  mean  that  your  education  is  finished. 
It  only  means  that  you  have  progressed  so  far  that  you  will  now 
be  able  to  do  the  work  of  both  teacher  and  pupil.  If  the  time 
ever  comes  when  we  cease  to  learn,  the  time  will  then  have 
come  when  there  is  little  need  that  we  should  longer  live.  The 
degree  conferred  upon  you  to-day  and  the  diploma  given  you, 
are  the  formal  declaration  by  the  authorities  of  Christian  Uni¬ 
versity,  that  you  are  now  sufficiently  advanced  to  be  entrusted 
with  the  oversight  and  instruction  of  yourselves.  From  this 
day  you  are  in  large  measure  to  be  your  own  teachers.  If  your 
growth  in  knowledge  shall  stop  where  you  now  are,  that  fact 
will  be  ample  proof  that  you  are  poor  teachers.  Under  the  in¬ 
struction  of  the  President  and  Professors  of  this  Institution, 


BACCALAUREATE  SERMON. 


109 


you  have  grown  in  science,  in  literature,  in  knew  ledge  If  that 
growth  be  less  rapid,  or  cease  altogether,  it  wil.  oe  because  you 
are  not  as  good  teachers  as  are  those  to  whom  you  bid  adieu 
to  day. 

Hitherto  you  have  been  confined  maiuly  to  the  necessarily 
narrow  limits  of  the  college  curriculum.  But,  after  this,  you 
have  the  broad  field  of  all  the  sciences,  all  the  languages,  all  the 
literature  before  you,  and  you  must,  tor  yourselves,  select  the 
field  in  which,  hereafter,  you  will  industriously  work. 

Our  educations  will  never  be  finished.  We  are  to  continue 
to  be  forever.  Our  existence  is  infinite  in  duration.  The  fields 
of  knowledge  are  also  infinite.  Then,  we  may  push  our  re¬ 
search  after  increased  knowledge  to  all  eternity.  Our  bodies 
get  their  full  growth,  wear  out  and  die.  Not  so  our  minds. 
The  only  decay  to  which  they  are  exposed  is,  that  the  bodily 
machinery,  through  which  they  now  work,  wears  out.  But  in  a 
little  while  God  will  give  us  new  bodies  that  will  never 
wear  out.  He  will  give  us  eyes  that  will  never  become  dim, 
ears  that  will  never  cease  to  hear  accurately,  tongues  that  will 
never  become  dumb,  cheeks  that  will  never  lose  the  ruddy  flush 
of  youth,  hands  that  will  never  lose  their  cunning,  feet  that 
will  never  stumble,  and  voices  that  will  be  clear,  melodious, 
eloquent,  and  musical  forever  and  forever.  Then  will  our 
minds  go  bounding  forward  in  the  pursuit  of  greater  knowl¬ 
edge,  untrammeled  and  unclogged  by  the  ills  to  which  mortal 
flesh  is  heir  in  the  present  life.  To-day  is,  indeed,  commence¬ 
ment  day  with  you.  To-day  you  begin  the  work  that  is  never, 
never  to  end.  To-day  your  earthly  guides,  who  have  hereto¬ 
fore  so  faithfully,  so  lovingly  smoothed  the  path  for  your  teet, 
helped  you  over  the  rough  places,  thrown  the  light  of  their 
profounder  scholarship  and  their  larger  experience  upon  the 
dark  places,  withdraw  their  guiding  hands.  From  this  day  you 
will  have  to  take  the  helm  in  your  own  hands  and  pilot  your 
own  boat.  From  this  day  you  will  have  to  conduct  your  own 
train.  If  your  boat  goes  to  the  bottom,  if  your  train  is  wreck¬ 
ed  after  this,  you  will  have  yourselves  to  blame  for  it.  You 
are  to-day  declared  to  be  competent  workmen.  Just  now,  you 
begin  the  work  of  proving  the  declaration  true  or  of  proving 
it  false. 

Young  Ladies,  young  Gentlemen,  allow  me,  in  connec- 
h 


no 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


tion  with  the  workman  to  call  your  attention  to  a  growing  evil 
in  American  society !  It  is  this :  There  is  a  large  element  of  our 
people  who  have  come  to  despise  work.  There  are  too  many 
that  are  inclined  to  snub  the  working  man.  In  the  estimation 
of  too  many,  the  calling  or  trade  followed  by  a  man,  is  made 
the  measure  of  the  respectability  of  the  man.  It  is  too  com¬ 
mon  that  the  well  dressed  idler  is  admitted  into  society  and 
flattered  because  he  is  supposed  to  have  money,  and  wears  flue 
clothes  Idleness  in  broadcloth,  and  idleness  in  costly  silks,  is 
not  entitled  to  our  respect.  We  condemn  it  in  rags.  Why  not 
condemn  it  in  costly  apparel  ?  Paul  says  to  Christians :  “  Work 
with  your  own  hands;  as  we  commanded  you-  that  ye  may 
walk  honestly  toward  them  that  are  without,  and  that  ye  may 
have  lack  of  nothing.”  Actual  work  is  a  Christian  duty.  The 
man  who  pegs  shoes,  does  so  in  obedience  to  the  divine  will 
and  honors  himself  in  the  sight  of  God.  The  woman  who 
bakes  bread,  keeps  her  house  in  order,  and  takes  care  of  her 
children,  honors  herself  before  her  God,  and  in  the  eyes  of  her 
husband  and  all  sensible  men.  Idleness  is  au  inexcusable  sin, 
being  an  open  violation  of  Scripture.  When  Paul  says  :  “  Work 
with  your  own  hands,”  he  uses  the  verb  ergazomni,  which  bears 
the  same  kindred  relation  to  ergatees ,  workman,  in  our  texr,  as 
our  verb  to  work  bear?  to  the  noun  workman.  While,  in  our 
text,  Timothy  is  commanded  to  be  a  workman  in  the  ministry 
of  the  word,  all  Christians  are  positively  commanded  to  be  ac¬ 
tual  workers,  toilers  in  some  department  of  human  industry. 
There  is  no  place  for  loungers  and  lazy  idlers  in  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

Again:  “For  even  when  we  were  with  you,  this  we  com¬ 
manded  you,  that  if  any  would  not  work,  neither  should  he 
eat.”  2  Thess.  iii:  10.  This  wa-  sound  gospel  doctrine  in  Paul’s 
day.  It  is  just  as  sound  now.  This  entire  earth-life  means 
work,  for  all  who  are  able.  The  man  or  the  womau  who  will 
persist  in  refusing  to  do  some  kind  of  real  work,  something 
that  contributes  to  the  supply  of  human  want,  is  guilty  of  rob¬ 
bery  when  he  eats.  He  eats  that  which  belongs  to  another.  All 
must  work  in  some  department  of  human  industry.  God's  law 
does  not  sa}r  that  all  men  shall  work  at  any  one  calling.  Nor 
does  it  say  that  any  particular  individual  shall  work  at  any 
particular  trade.  God  simply  says  that  all  must  work.  There 


BACCALAUREATE  SERMON. 


Ill 


are  but  two  limitations  upon  a  man’s  entire  freedom  of  choice : 
1.  He  must  not  choose  idleness.  He  must  work.  2  He  must 
not  choose  a  calling  that  injures  the  human  race.  He  must  not 
follow  a  business  that  destroys  either  the  bodies  or  souls  of  the 
people.  But,  with  these  limitations,  auy  man  is  at  liberty  to 
engage  in  any  department  of  human  labor  to  which  his  inclina¬ 
tion  and  the  exercise  of  his  common  sense  lead  him. 

We  have  already  condemned  the  growing  sentiment  that  a 
man  is  to  be  despised  because  he  labors  with  his  hands.  The 
man  who  plows,  if  he  be  honest  and  virtuous,  is  entitled  to  as 
much  respect  as  any  other  man  of  equal  integrity.  The  fact 
that  he  plows  is  to  his  credit,  instead  of  being  a  disparagement. 
The  man  who  digs  wells  is  following  an  honorable  calling. 
Well-digging  contributes  very  largely  to  the  supply  of  human 
want.  The  well-digger  is  a  benefactor  of  his  race.  So  is  the 
blacksmith,  the  carpenter,  the  painter,  the  miner,  the  stone-cut¬ 
ter,  the  bricklayer,  and  a  hundred  others.  He  who  thinks  less 
of  his  fellow  man,  simply  because  he  earns  his  bread  by  follow¬ 
ing  one  of  these  callings,  is  very  unwise. 

But  there  is  another  pernicious  mistake.  It  is  that  other  em¬ 
ployments  are  not  work.  The  calling  the  mechanical  trades 
and  agricultural  employments,  work,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  the 
mercantile  and  professional  departments  of  business,  making 
the  impression  that  these  are  not  work,  that  they  are  not  toil¬ 
some,  is  working  serious  mischief.  The  young  lady  or  the 
young  gentleman  who  seeks  to  occupy  a  place  in  the  halls  of 
learning  as  a  teacher,  with  the  idea  that  it  is  not  work,  is  not 
hard  work,  has  no  just  conception  of  the  teacher’s  life.  He  or 
she  who  would  shun  work,  and  very  hard  work  at  that,  is  utterly 
unfit  to  fill  a  place  in  the  recitation  room  of  the  humblest  school 
in  the  land.  The  young  man  who  expects  to  escape  work  by' 
adopting  the  medical  profession,  will  be  a  stupendous 
failure.  He  will  have  but  few  patients  and  they  had  better 
have  no  doctor.  The  young  man  who  thinks  to  escape  work  in 
the  legal  profession  will  be  a  similar  failure.  The  young  man 
who  seeks  the  pulpit  to  avoid  hard  work  is  and  will  be  forever 
a  miserable  failure.  His  laziness  will  haunt  him  at  the  day  of 
judgment.  The  Savior  himself  toiled  industriously  until, 
crowned  with  thorns,  he  was  nailed  to  the  cross.  In  heaven  he 
still  works  for  our  good.  He  who  would  shun  work,  should 


112 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


never  think  of  being  called  a  pastor  of  any  church.  A  non¬ 
working,  easy  going  pastor,  will  destroy  any  church  over  which 
he  presides.  The  spiritual  growth  of  the  members  will  soon 
be  suspended  under  his  administration.  An  idler,  a  shirk 
from  hard  work,  is  as  certain  and  complete  a  failure  in  toe  pul¬ 
pit,  in  the  school  room,  at  the  bar,  in  the  sick  room,  behind  the 
counter,  as  a  lazy  tramp  in  a  cornfield  or  in  the  work  shop. 
Wherever  you  find  a  successful  pastor,  one  worthy  to  be  pro¬ 
nounced  a  success,  you  will  find  the  same  man  to  be  a  hard 
worker.  He  is  intensely  busy.  He  both  reads  and  writes,  he 
studies  intensely,  he  carries  his  congregation  as  a  burden  on  his 
heart  all  the  time.  There  are  no  harder  worked  men  in  this 
country,  in  this  world  indeed,  than  the  really  competent  pastors. 
Let  no  man  dare  to  desecrate  the  office  by  bringing  a  dislike  for 
work  into  it.  The  genuine  pastor  loves  his  work.  So  does  the 
accomplished  teacher  of  science  and  literature.  They  who  do 
not  love  curves,  and  lines,  and  angles,  and  sines,  and  tangents 
and  equations  and  proportions,  and  who  do  not  take  delight  in 
finding  the  value  of  x,  are  not  fit  for  Professors  of  Mathemat¬ 
ics.  They  who  do  not  like  to  dig  about  the  roots  of  Greek 
verbs  are  unfit  for  professors  of  languages.  They  who  find  no 
pleasure  in  their  work  are  idlers.  Their  labors  will  not  be  prof¬ 
itable  to  their  employers  nor  to  themselves.  Work,  that  the 
laborer  delights  in,  is  geneially  well  done. 

Let  us  now  attend  to  the  exegesis  of  our  text.  The  word 
rendered  study  is  found  eleven  times  in  the  Greek  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  but  is  nowhere  else  rendered  study.  We  mean  in  this 
country,  by  study,  to  sit  down  to  books,  maps,  and  apparatus, 
and,  by  mental  application,  to  gather  and  classify  facts,  solve 
problems,  master  languages,  and  compose  discourses,  essays,, 
and  theses.  Any  man,  filling  the  place  in  the  church  occupied 
by  Timothy,  m  ust  study,  ought  to  study  faithfully  and  thorough¬ 
ly  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  that  word.  He  can  not  obey 
the  command  given  to  Timothy  without  close  study,  witoutthe 
use  of  books.  The  word  is  spuudazo.  Paul  uses  it  eight  times, 
Peter  three  times.  In  this  same  epistle,  it  occurs  in  the  ninth 
verse  of  the  fourth  chapter :  “Do  thy  diligence  to  come  unto 
me.”  “Do  thy  diligence”  conies  from  exactly  the  same  Greek 
as,  study,  in  the  text.  It  is  spoudawn ,  imperative  mood,  second 
person  singular,  aorist  tense,  in  both  places.  “  Do  thy  diligence  ” 


BACCALAUREATE  SERMON. 


113 


is  a  good  rendering  of  the  apostle’s  thought.  Timothy  is  com¬ 
manded  to  make  a  determined  effort  “  to  come  shortly.”  Be  dil¬ 
igent  “to  come,”  be  diligent  “to  shew  thyself  a  workman.” 
“Do  thy  diligence  to  come  before  winter,”  verse  21.  “Be  dili¬ 
gent  to  come  unto  me  to  Nicopolis.”  Titus  iii:  12.  The  word 
is  the  same  in  all  these  places,  and  the  meaning  is  unmistakable. 
It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  apostle  commanded  Timothy,  and  all 
other  preachers  as  for  that  matter,  to  be  diligent  in  effort  to  be 
such  workmen  as  God  will  approve.  To  do  this  in  our  day  will 
necessitate  the  study  of  books,  especially,  the  thorough  and  crit¬ 
ical  study  of  the  Bible. 

“Approved  unto  God”  requires  a  test  that  shall  be  satisfac¬ 
tory  to  God.  DoJcimos,  here  rendered  approved,  is  defined 
“Tested  and  proved  by  trial.” — Conybeare  and  Howson. 
“Proved,  tried  ;  approved  ajter  examination  and  trial” — Bag- 
ster.  Timothy  is  instructed  to  be  diligent  to  prove  himself 
worthy  of  God’s  approval  by  doing  the  right  kind  of  work,  in  an 
acceptable  manner.  A  workman  is  approved  after  he  does  good 
work,  not  before.  He  who  does  good  work  any  where,  will  have 
no  need  to  be  ashamed,  but  he  who  does  poor  work,  and  especial¬ 
ly  he  who  does  not  work  at  all  ought  to  be  ashamed.  At  the 
judgment  he  will  be  ashamed  if  not  before.  The  preacher  does 
good  work  and  is  approved  unto  God  when  he  is  “  rightly  di¬ 
viding  the  word  of  truth.”  The  word  rendered  “  rightly  divid¬ 
ing  ”  means  cutting  straight.  “Rightly  dividing,”  in  this  place 
is  a  pretty  good  rendering  of  the  apostle’s  thought.  The  whole 
verse  may  be  paraphrased  as  tollows  :  Be  diligent  to  present 
yourself  to  God,  approved  by  having  done  good  work,  a  work¬ 
man  who  has  no  occasion  to  be  ashamed  of  his  work,  having 
preached  the  gospel  correctly. 

Young  Ladies  and  (gentlemen,  to-day  you  complete  your 
college  course.  The  battle  of  life  is  before  you.  Doubt¬ 
less  you  all  desire  to  be  workmen  in  some  department  of 
human  industry  and  human  usefulness.  You  can  do  good,  be 
useful  and  happy  in  almost  any  proper  calling.  All  the  branches 
of  industry  are  open  to  you.  Some  one  of  them,  each  one  of 
you  must  enter,  and  in  it  do  your  life  work,  or  fall  under  the 
condemnation  of  God  for  being  idlers.  None  of  you  intend  to 
be  idlers.  You  intend  to  be  workers.  Allow  me  to  say  to  you 
that  to  be  happy,  to  be  honorable,  to  be  a  blessing  to  others, 


114 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


you  are  not  obliged  to  be,  any  one  of  you,  a  physician,  a  law¬ 
yer  or  even  a  pulpit  preacher.  These  are  both  honorable  and 
useful  professions  when  their  duties  are  intelligently,  ably  and 
conscientiously  discharged.  The  two  former  ot  these  profes¬ 
sions  are  crowded.  The  country  is  overstocked  with  doctors, 
so  it  is  with  lawyers.  An  able  physician  is  a  very  useful  man, 
and  the  people  need  him;  but  an  incompetent  one,  a  quack,  is  a 
dangerous  personage  to  be  in  any  community.  If  a  workman,  at 
all,  he  is  not  approved  of  God,  and  ought  not  to  be  approved  of 
men,  and  ought  to  be  ashamed.  An  able  lawyer,  when  honest 
and  true,  is  a  useful  citizen.  But  when  incompetent  and  dis¬ 
honest,  he  is  a  curse  rather  than  a  blessing.  A  lawyer  wha 
seeks  to  get  men  into  lawsuits  iu  order  to  make  business,  ought 
to  be  abated  as  a  nuisance.  There  is  no  profession  in  which 
men  engage  more  noble  than  preaching  the  gospel.  But  even 
that  God-like  work  is  often  disgraced  by  incompetents  and 
hypocrites.  If  any  of  you  are  inclined  to  the  healing  art,  be 
sure  to  make  thorough  preparation  before  you  venture  on  the 
work  of  dealing  with  the  lives  of  men.  If  you  are  inclined  to 
the  law,  then,  know  the  law  well,  defend  the  right,  plead  for 
the  right,  but  do  not,  for  conscience’s  sake,  knowingly,  defend 
the  wrong.  There  are  some  lawyers  who  appear  to  make  it  the 
business  of  their  lives  to  evade  the  law,  to  prevent  the  execu¬ 
tion  of  the  law,  and  to  help  the  very  vilest  of  criminals  and 
rascals  to  escape  the  punishment  which  is  justly  due  them.  If 
you  desire  to  preach  Christ  to  your  fellow  men,  then  make  the 
best  preparation  that  you  can.  Be  sure  to  familiarize  yourself 
with  God’s  own  book,  stick  close  to  that  and  you  will  do  well. 

But  do  not  overlook  the  vast  field  of  human  industries  that 
are  not  called  professional.  Agriculture,  in  our  day,  and  in  our 
country,  is  assuming  an  importance  and  a  respectability  here¬ 
tofore  not  awarded  to  it.  There  is  no  one,  more  significant 
mark  of  an  improvement  iu  American  civilization,  than  the 
rapid  tendency  of  agriculture  forward  and  upward.  YY'e  now 
have  agricultural  colleges  and  universities.  Men  of  cultivation, 
refinement  and  learning  are  now  proud  of  being  farmers.  The 
farm,  the  garden  and  the  orchard  are  become  classic.  YVhile 
the  farm  does  not  yet  require  every  farmer  to  be  a  college 
graduate,  the  farm  is  now  worthy  of  a  graduate  for  its  master. 
The  man  who  improves  the  quality  and  increases  the  quantity 


BACCALAUREATE  SERMON. 


115 


of  corn  and  wheat,  and  other  grain  grown  in  this  country,  is  a 
public  benefactor.  The  man  who  discovers  new  and  better 
varieties  of  apples,  and  peaches,  and  plums,  and  cherries,  and 
other  fruits,  who  finds  out  how  to  make  the  crop  more  certain, 
who  discovers  the  means  of  protecting  and  prolonging  the 
lives  of  the  trees,  is  a  contributor  to  the  general  good.  He 
will  benefit  both  the  morals  and  the  bodily  health  of  the  people. 
The  man  who  improves  the  stock  of  horses,  cattle  and  sheep  in 
the  country,  confers  a  blessing  upon  his  race.  A  woman  in 
Iowa,  of  late  years,  has  imparted  quite  an  impetus  to  bee 
culture.  The  increase  of  the  busy  little  workers,  and  the  better 
protection  of  their  lives,  would  be  a  great  blessing.  Who  has 
a  better  right  to  do  that  work,  to  achieve  that  honor  and  to 
reap  its  rewards,  than  an  educated  woman  ?  They  who  will 
increase  the  beauty  of  the  rose,  the  pink,  the  lily,  and  cause 
them  to  live  longer,  and  bloom  and  blush  for  a  longer  period 
will  make  a  valuable  addition  to  the  sum  of  human  happiness. 
Who  can  do  these  things  better  than  an  educated  woman? 
Who  can  do  them  so  well  ? 

God  has  given  us  a  glorious  earthly  heritage  in  this  western 
world.  But  he  has  wisely  and  righteously  given  it  to  us  in  the 
rough.  He  has  given  us  beautiful  rivers  for  highways  of  travel, 
both  for  pleasure  and  profit.  But  these  rivers  are  obstructed 
by  sand-bars,  sawyers  and  rapids.  There  is  great  need  for 
both  muscle  and  brain,  for  trained  intellect,  to  clear  out  these 
obstructions.  These  rivers  are  yet  to  be  bridged  in  many 
places.  These  broad  States,  instead  of  forty  millions  of  people, 
are  soon  to  have  hundreds  of  millions.  To  dres3  up  this  conti¬ 
nent,  to  adorn  it,  to  polish  and  burnish  it  for  the  coming  mill¬ 
ions,  there  is  honest,  honorable  and  profitable  employment  for 
every  one.  God  has  given  us  iron,  and  lead,  and  zinc,  and 
nickel,  and  copper,  and  silver,  and  gold,  in  profuse  abundance 
But  they  are  stowed  away  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  in  the 
crude  rocks.  To  get  them  from  the  mines,  to  smelt  and  convert 
them  into  the  forms  in  which  they  are  useful  to  man,  educated 
mind  and  trained  muscle  are  both  absolutely  necessary.  For 
ages  the  aborigines  of  this  continent  trod  beneath  their  savage 
feet  the  rich  store-houses  of  limestone,  of  the  sandstones,  of 
granite,  of  marble,  of  coal-beds,  of  iron,  and  of  silver,  and  of 
gold;  and  yet,  to  them  these  treasures  were  worthless.  Why 


116 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


o  them  worthless?  Not  because  they  were  physically  and 
muscularly  too  weak  to  obtain  them,  but  because  of  the  entire 
lack  of  intellectual  and  spiritual  development.  We  are  bring¬ 
ing  up  the  coal,  warming  our  persons,  cooking  our  food, 
driving  our  machinery,  lighting  our  houses  and  our  streets 
with  it —  not  because  of  our  superior  muscularity,  but  because 
we  are,  in  some  good  degree,  an  educated  people.  It  requires 
educated  mind  and  educated  muscle  both,  to  do  this  work. 
The  architect  builds  the  house  in  his  mind  before  the  mechanics 
begin  the  work  of  construction.  The  savage,  for  this  reason, 
can  build  nothing  better  than  his  uncouth  wigwam.  His  mind 
being  wholly  uneducated,  he  can  erect  no  ideal  structure,  and 
there  is  nothing  for  his  brawny  muscles  to  do.  Muscle  and 
nerve  are  to  be  educated,  too.  But  muscle  can,  in  execution, 
never  excel  the  ideal  in  the  mind,  can  never  go  beyond  it.  A 
more  beautiful  temple  earthly  can  never  be  constructed  than 
the  finest  ideal  conceived  in  the  mind  of  the  most  excellent 
architect. 

For  this  reason,  a  savage  nation  can  not  survey  and  construct 
railroads,  build  steamships,  nor  develop  and  utilize  the  sources 
of  food  and  raiment  and  shelter  laid  up  for  us  in  the  great 
store-houses  of  nature,  that  our  Creator  has  put  within  our 
reach.  The  development  of  the  resources  of  this  continent  is 
yet  in  its  early  infancy.  Its  vast  sea  coast  need9  to  be  explored 

and  accurately  surveyed.  Its  rivers  and  harbors  are  to  be 
made  more  safe.  Its  mountains,  in  many  places,  are  yet  to  be 

tunneled.  Its  swamp  lands  are  to  be  drained,  and  its  rich  bot¬ 
tom  lands  protected  against  overflow.  Its  arid  wastes  are  to 
be  irrigated  and  made  fertile.  Its  atmospheric  and  oceanic 
currents  are  to  be  investigated  and  better  understood.  The 
soils  are  to  be  more  thoroughly  analyzed,  and,  consequently, 
better  understood  and  more  skillfully  and  profitably  cultivated. 
The  rivers  and  lakes  are  to  be  fully  stocked  with  the  best 
varieties  of  fish  for  human  food.  There  is  immense  room  yet 
for  ^he  work  of  development  and  improvement,  and  an  immense 
demand  for  educated  workers,  engineers,  surveyors,  machin¬ 
ists,  architects,  skilled  mechanics,  scientific  farmers,  artizans, 
scientists,  industrious,  active,  enterprising.  We  need  to-day, 
and  we  shall  have  after  awhile,  a  great  improvement  in  the 
quality  and  in  the  preparation  of  human  food.  The  American 


BACCALAUREATE  SERMON. 


117 


people  need  a  reformation  in  eating.  They  need  to  eat  far  less 
expensively,  and  thereby  enjoy  better  health  and  live  longer. 
The  women,  the  educated  women,  are  the  proper  ones  to 
inaugurate  and  carry  forward  this  reformation. 

Then,  there  is  the  great  field  of  educational  labor.  In  a 
country  like  this,  where  there  is  an  opportunity  for  every  child 
in  the  land  to  become  learned,  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  mental 
work  to  be  done  by  teachers.  The  schools,  and  colleges,  and 
universities  will  constantly  need  an  army,  a  large  army,  of  well 
educated,  pious  women  and  men  to  do  the  work  of  instructing 
in  the  various  departments  of  human  learning.  This  army  of 
teachers  ought  to  have,  and  constantly  will  have,  a  large  number 
of  women  in  it.  Woman  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  teaching  in 
many  of  the  branches  of  scientific  and  literary  education.  The 
profession  of  teaching  ought  to  be  highly  esteemed.  Indeed, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  exalt  it  too  highly.  It  has  not  yet  been 
honored  as  it  should  be.  But  the  tendency  is  in  the  right 
direction.  The  teacher’s  work  will  endure  forever.  The 
man  who  polishes  a  piece  of  granite,  or  of  marble,  or  steel, 
until  it  is  beautiful,  feels  a  pride  in  his  work,  because  it  will 
probably  endure  for  many  years.  But  the  granite  will  perish, 
the  marble  will  be  ground  to  powder,  and  the  steel  will  wear 
away  and  be  gone.  But  the  teacher  works  not  on  granite  and 
3teel,  that  some  time  will  disappear,  but  on  hearts,  understand¬ 
ings,  minds  that  will  continue  to  be  forever.  Young  ladies, 
young  gentlemen,  if  you  become  teachers,  remember  that  your 
work  will  remain  forever.  The  engraver's  tools  leave  their 
impress  on  stone  and  metal.  But  old  father  Time  will  event¬ 
ually  obliterate  those  lines.  But  when  you,  as  teacher,  in  clear 
cut  letters,  write  your  impress  on  the  tablets  of  your  pupil’s 
mind,  you  are  doing  work  that  will  endure  after  the  body  dies, 
and  after  this  world  shall  have  passed  away.  As  a  teacher, 
you  do  your  work  for  eternity.  Then,  in  the  fear  of  God,  and 
in  the  love  of  your  pupil,  do  it  well.  If  your  work  be  well 
done,  as  Paul  commanded  Timothy,  you  will  not  need  l‘to  be 
ashamed.”  Teaching  belongs  in  the  upper  story  of  all  human 
labor. 

Near  akin  to  this  noble  work,  and  at  the  topmost  pinnacle  or 
the  temple  of  all  human  achievements,  is  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  to  lost  sinners.  This  is  teaching,  too. 


118 


THE  M0BERLY  PULPIT. 

But  the  gospel  lesson  is  the  grandest  lesson  of  all.  This  lesson 
of  the  great  Teacher,  instilled  into  a  human  heart,  purges  out 
sin,  exalts  the  aspirations,  purifies  the  motives  and  lifts  up  the 
affections  to  things  above.  A  man,  or  a  woman,  who  turns  a 
soul  to  Christ,  does  the  grandest  deed  performed  by  man.  A 
man  or  a  woman  never  did,  and  never  will  do  any  other  act  so 
God-like  as  the  bringiug  the  lost  ones  to  the  King  of  Zion. 
While  eternity’s  ages  roll  endlessly  on,  you  will  never  be 
ashamed  of  having  induced  a  sinner  to  come  to  Christ.  The 
deed  will  honor  you  forever  and  forever. 

Finally,  the  work  of  teaching  the  gospel,  of  bringing  lost 
ones  to  the  dear  Savior,  is  by  no  means  confined  to  those  who 
occupy  the  pulpit.  Woman  can  do  great  good  in  this  work, 
and  do  it,  too,  without  entering  the  pulpit,  or  becoming  pastor 
or  bishop  of  the  church.  The  family  circle  affords  her  a  field 
to  preach  Christ.  The  Sunday  school  opens  to  her  a  field  amply 
large.  She  has  plenty  of  room  to  work  for  the  Master  in  the 
highest  department  of  human  labor.  Let  every  gentleman  and 
every  lady  in  this  class  be  an  active  worker  in  the  Lord’s  vine¬ 
yard,  “  approved  unto  God  a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be 
ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth.” 

Now,  O  Lord,  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we 
beseech  thee  to  bless  Christian  University ;  bless  its  trustees ; 
bless  its  president ;  bless  its  professors ;  bless  the  class  of  1880. 
Help  us  all  to  so  live  that  we  may  meet  “  around  the  great  white 
throne.”  Amen. 


SERMON  IX, 


SELF-CONTROL, 


Preached  Lord’s  Day,  September  12,  1880. 

- $> - # - 


Texts— “If  thy  right  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out, 'and  cast  it  from 
thee.”—  Jesus. 

“  If  thy  right  hand  offend  tbee  cut  it  off  and  cast  it  from  thee.” — Jesus . 

“  If  thy  foot  offend  thee,  cut  it  off.” — Jesus. 

My  Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters  : 

Our  theme  this  morning  is  self-control.  It  is  the  duty  of 
every  Christian  to  exercise  control  over  himself.  He  must 
control  his  tongue,  his  hands,  his  feet,  his  appetites,  his  desires, 
his  thoughts,  or  to  sum  it  all  up  in  one  word,  he  must  control 
himself.  Failure  to  do  this  is  the  original  cause  of  all  the  fail¬ 
ures  in  the  manner  of  life  of  Christian  people,  and  the  original 
cause  of  all  the  apostasies  from  ihe  religion  of  Christ  Jesus. 
One  man  fails  to  control  one  appetite  and  becomes  a  glutton 
and  a  drunkard.  Another  gives  rein  to  another  appetite  and 
he  becomes  a  debauch  e  and  a  libertine.  Another  fails  to  gov¬ 
ern  his  love  of  money  and  becomes  covetous,  idolatrous. 
Another  yields  to  the  love  of  place  and  power  and  fame,  and 
becomes  a  corrupt  political  ringster  and  tyrant.  Another  yield¬ 
ing  still  further  to  the  love  of  money  or  the  appetites,  becomes 
a  swindler,  a  thief,  a  robber  and  even  a  murderer  in  cold  blood. 
Another  neglects  to  control  his  wrath  and  he  too  becomes  a 
murderer.  Another  gives  a  loose  rein  to  his  tongue  and  he 
becomes  a  mischief-maker,  a  tattler,  a  busy-body  and  a  liar.  His 
unbridled  tongue  involves  him  in  broils  and  strifes  with  his 
fellow  men. 

T  his  self-control,  so  necessary  to  successful  Christian  life,  is 
subjective,  that  is,  it  is  within.  The  inner  man  is  the  one  who 
exercises  ihe  controlling  power.  It  is,  however,  in  its  manifes¬ 
tations,  often  objective,  that  is,  it  is  the  outer  man  who  is  con¬ 
trolled.  VV hen  the  wise  man  says:  ‘‘Keep  thy  heart  with  all 
diligence,  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life,”  it  is  wholly  sub¬ 
jective.  In  that  case  the  fountain  whence  come  both  the  inner 

119 


120 


THE  MOBEKLY  PULPIT. 


aud  the  outer  life,  is  the  thing-  governed.  This  fountain  is 
within,  and  is  to  be  kept  not  by  the  outer,  but  by  the  inner 
man.  But  the  man  who  is  “  able  also  to  bridle  his  whole  body,” 
manifests  his  self-control  objectively,  in  that  the  outer  man  is 
governed  and  kept  in  proper  bounds. 

In  all  cases  the  controlling  power  is  the  inner  man.  But  the 
man  within,  to  be  able  to  control  successfully  must  be  a  child  of 
God,  in  order  that  he  may  have  the  help  of  God’s  Spirit  in  his 
work  of  self  government.  Paul  prayed  that  the  brethren  at 
Ephesus  might  “  be  strengthened  with  might,  by  his  Spirit  in  the 
inuer  man.”  The  world  is,  and  always  has  been,  and  always 
will  be  a  failure  in  self-control.  One  reason  is,  the  world  is 
destitute  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  investigation  of  our  theme  brings  us  to  the  consideration 
of  several  Scripture  texts  that  have  been  considered  somewhat 
difficult  of  understanding.  We  quote  the  first  one  in  full: 

“Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said  by  them  of  old  time,  Thou 
shalt  not  commit  adultery.  But  I  say  unto  you,  That  whoso¬ 
ever  looketh  ou  a  woman  to  lust  after  her,  hath  committed 
adultery  with  her  already  in  his  heart.  And  if  thy  right  eye 
offend  thee  pluck  ii  out,  and  cast  it  from  thee.  For  it  is  profit¬ 
able  for  thee  that  one  of  thy  members  should  perish,  and  not 
that  thy  whole  body  should  be  cast  into  hell.  And  if  thy  right 
hand  offend  thee  cut  it  off  and  cast  it  from  thee.  For  it  is  prof¬ 
itable  for  thee  that  one  of  thy  members  should  perish  and  not 
that  thy  whole  body  should  be  cast  into  hell.”— A  att.  v  :  27-30. 

Many  have  been  the  questions  that  have  arisen  in  the  minds 
of  Bible  readers  as  to  the  Savior’s  meaning  in  this  and  other 
places  when  he  says  :  Pluck  out  the  eye,  cut  off  the  hand,  cut  off 
the  foot  and  cast  them  from  jou.  The  passage  just  quoted  is 
the  kev  to  all  the  others  of  like  kind.  This  one  correcily  inter- 

i  * 

pretted  and  the  others  will  not  be  difficult  to  be  understood. 

The  verb  offend  in  this  place  and  in  other  places  where  the 
Savior  gives  the  same  instructions  is  not  used  in  its  popular 
sense.  Popularly,  to  offend  is  to  give  an  insult,  to  wound  the 
feelings,  to  stir  up  a  man’s  anger.  But  a  man’s  right  eye  could 
hardly  be  guilty  of  offering  an  insult  to  its  owner.  Nor  could 
his  hand  or  his  foot  do  such  a  thing.  The  noun  offense  in  this 
class  of  passages  comes  from  skandcilon  in  the  original,  and  is 
defined,  in  the  classics,  to  mean,  “A  trap,  a  snare;  a  stumbling 


SELF-CONTROL. 


121 


block,  a  cause  of  offense.  The  verb  offend,  in  these  same  Scrip¬ 
tures,  is  from  skandalizo  in  the  Greek,  and  is  defined  to  mean, 
“To  cause  to  stumble;  hence ,  to  cause  to  sin,  to  be  an  occasion 
of  sinning,  to  induce  to  sin,”  Bagster  defines  skandalizo  to 
mean,  primarily,  “To  cause  to  stumble  ;  ”  metonymically,  ‘‘To 
offend,  vex,  shock,  excite  feelings  of  repugnance.” 

It  is  quite  clear  that  the  eye,  the  hand,  the  foot,  or  the  appe¬ 
tites,  could  only  perform  the  acts  expressed  by  this  verb  in  its 
primary  sense.  It  is  not  used  in  these  texts  in  its  metonymic, 
but  in  its  primary  and  most  natural  signification. 

Now,  let  us  take  up  these  texts  one  at  a  time  and  endeavor  to 
reach  their  true  exegesis.  “  If  thy  right  eye  oflend  thee  ”  rend¬ 
ered,  If  thy  right  eye  cause  thee  to  sin,  would,  in  English, 
exactly  express  the  Master’s  meaning.  This  accords  with  the 
context.  The  Lord  had  just  said,  “  That  whosoever  looketh  on 
a  woman  to  lust  after  her,  hath  committed  adulterv  with  her 
in  his  heart.”  The  eye  in  that  case  is  the  outward  vehicle 
through  which  the  heart-sin  is  committed.  It  is  the  snare  by 
which  the  soul  is  entrapped  into  a  grievous  fault.  The  sin  in 
this  case  is  wholly  subjective.  It  pertains  to  the  inner  man,  but 
the  eye  is  the  objective  organ  by  which  the  soul  is  ensnared  into 
a  heinous  sin.  Though  the  sin  affects  only  the  soul  of  the  sin¬ 
ner  himself,  and  is  shut  up  in  the  confines  of  his  own  heart ;  still 
without  the  instrumentality  of  the  outward  eye  the  monstrous 
sin  could  not  and  would  not  have  been  committed. 

The  Savior  expresses  his  abhorrence  of  the  flagrant  sin  by 
hurling  at  the  eye,  the  visible  cause  of  the  secret  sin,  the  terrible 
denunciation:  Pluck  out\the  right  eye.  “  Cast  it  from  thee.” 
In  pronouncing  the  penalty,  the  Savior  strikes  at  the  objective 
sinner,  ike  one  that  is  in  sight,  the  one  that  affords  the  occasion 
of  the  wrong,  the  one  that  led  the  soul  into  the  monstrous  de¬ 
pravity. 

The  duty  of  self-control  is  the  underlying  thought  here.  It 
is  clearly  made  the  Christian's  duty  to  govern  himself  even  to 
the  restraining  of  the  eye  from  looking  upon  any  thing  that  will 
excite  impure  thoughts  in  the  heart,  or  that  will  arouse  slum¬ 
bering  passions  into  active  play,  or  set  the  appetites  and  lustful 
desires  on  fire,  and  thus  lead  the  soul  into  the  whirlpool  of  vice. 
A  man’s  duty,  in  this  matter,  is  so  important  that  he  must  dis¬ 
charge  it  even  to  the  plucking  out  of  a  right  eye,  or  cutting  off 


122 


THE  MOB  ERL. Y  PUEPIT. 


a  right  hand  or  a  right  foot.  The  law  of  Christ  is  imperative, 
is  urgent,  is  vehement  at  this  point.  The  lustful  appetites  must 
be  kept  in  subjection  to  a  heart  that  has  been  purified  by  faith 
in  Christ,  and  a  will  that  is  sanctified  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
This  must  be  done  at  all  hazards.  The  case  is  so  urgent  and  it 
is  so  vital  that  it  must  be  done,  even  if  it  cost  the  right  eye,  the 
right  hand  or  the  right  foot.  The  duty  is  so  important  that  its 
neglect  costs  the  loss  of  the  whole  man,  casts  his  “  whole 
body  ”  “  into  hell.”  It  is  a  fearful  thing  for  a  professed  Chris¬ 
tian  to  trifle  with  his  lusts  ancf  appetites.  If  he  allows  them  to 
have  the  mastery  they  will  drag  him  down  to  hell  in  the  end. 
He  must  take  the  reins  into  his  hands  and  keep  all  the  propen¬ 
sities  of  the  flesh  in  proper  bounds,  or  Satan  will  receive  him  as 
his  own,  and,  with  his  Satanic  majesty,  he  will  be  finally  cast 
into  the  “  bottomless  pit”  to  remain  forever.  O!  what  eternal 
consequences  are  involved  in  this  matter!  No  less  than  the 
happiness  and  bliss  of  the  heavenly  world,  or,  the  horrors  of  an 
endless  hell  are  suspended  upon  the  discharge  or  the  neglect  of 
this  Christian  obligation. 

In  principle,  the  Savior’s  lesson  here  applies  with  equal  force 
to  any  other  sin,  into  which  the  fleshly  lusts  would  or  could 
lead  the  soul,  as  to  the  one  mentioned  in  the  text.  It  applies 
with  the  same  aptness  to  any  other  bodily  member  or  propen¬ 
sity,  as  to  the  eye,  the  hand  or  the  foot.  A  specific  sin  and  spe¬ 
cific  fleshly  members  are  used  to  teach  a  general  lesson.  That 
general  lesson  is  the  importance,  the  transcendent  importance, 
the  imperious  necessity  of  sell  government.  Have  re,  brethren 
and  sisters,  all  learned  that  important  lesson?  Are  we  practic¬ 
ing  it  in  our  daily  lives  ?  Have  we  all  our  members,  bodily,  un¬ 
der  control?  Or  have  we  surrendered  oursel?es  slaves  to  any 
one  of  our  fleshly  lusts?  Dear  brethren:  “Know  ye  not,  that 
to  whom  ye  yield  yourselves  servants  to  obey  his  servants  ye 
are  to  whom  ye  obey ;  whether  of  sin  uuto  death,  or  of  obedi¬ 
ence  unto  righteousness?”  Are  any  of  us  the  servants  of  any 
one  of  our  appetites?  We  are  if  we  are  liviug  in  obedience  to 
their  demands.  The  man  who  has  allowed  his  love  of  strong 
drink  to  become  his  master  is  a  good  illustration  of  a  servant, 
or  indeed  a  slave  to  his  own  appetites,  made  so  by  his  yielding 
himself  to  obey  the  demands  of  the  flesh.  The  opium  eater 
does  the  same  thing.  He  is  in  the  shackles  of  a  most  galling 


SELF-CONTROL. 


123 


bondage  to  his  own  depraved  and  debased  appetite.  Is  not  the 
man  who  can  not,  at  all,  do  without  his  cigar,  or  his  pipe,  or  a 
quid  in  his  mouth  also  a  servant  to  his  appetites  ?  Has  he  not 
yielded  himself  to  the  cravings  and  gnawings  of  an  appetite  ? 
The  service  may  be  very  greatly  less  injurious  and  less  objec¬ 
tionable  than  that  yielded  to  the  wine  cup,  still  the  question  re¬ 
mains:  Is  the  man  free,  free  as  the  Lord’s  child  ought  to  be? 
Is  the  man  free,  when  he  can  not  quit  ?  The  man  who  has  so 
yielded  to  the  love  of  money  so  far  that  he  can  not  give  to  the 
poor,  can  not  give  to  the  Lord,  can  not  give  for  the  spread  of 
the  gospel,  has  become  a  servant  to  covetousness.  His  soul  is 
the  slave  of  a  most  tyrannical  master.  The  love  of  money 
reigns  in  his  soul  and  he  serves,  whereas,  he  ought,  himself,  to 
reign,  and  this  propensity  ought  to  serve.  You  may  say  that 
the  stingy  man  can  give  but  will  not.  Let  it  be  repeated  he  can 
not  give  acceptably.  When  he  does  give,  it  is  painful  to  him. 
When  he  parts  with  a  few  glittering  coins  it  hurts  him.  If  he 
be  really  free  from  the  tyrannical  love  of  money,  giving  affords 
him  a  pleasure.  He  delights  in  it.  He  loves  to  give.  But 
whenever  giving  is  painful,  then  know  that  the  man  is  under 
the  yoke  of  covetousness  and  not  free. 

In  all  these  cases,  and  many  others  like  them,  it  is  the  Chris¬ 
tian’s  duty  to  declare  war  upon  these  passions  and  lusts,  and  to 
wage  that  warfare  unrelentingly  and  to  the  bitter  end.  Let  it 
be  a  war  of  conquest.  Never  make  a  compromise  nor  a  treaty 
of  peace.  Conquer  a  peace  by  an  entire  subjugation  of  the  ap¬ 
petites.  If  success  is  hard  to  obtain,  fight  all  the  more  valiantly. 
If  the  means  of  success  are  so  costly  as  the  loss  of  the  right  eye 
let  the  sacrifice  not  be  withheld.  Overcome,  whatever  may  be 
the  cost.  You  can  not  afford  to  be  defeated.  Slavery  to  the 
appetites,  in  this  life,  will  drag  you  down  into  bondage  in  the 
eternal  ages  of  the  future. 

Next  we  consider  the  question,  whether  the  command  to 
pluck  out  the  right  eye,  to  cut  off  the  right  hand  or  foot  is  to  be 
taken  literally  ?  Whether  any  man  is  under  obligation  to  lit¬ 
erally  pluck  out  the  fleshly  eye,  or  cut  off  the  fleshly  hand  or 
toot?  Strict  or  true  loyalty  to  God  and  his  word  requires  that, 
if  the  words  are  to  be  taken  in  their  literal  meaning.  That  is, 
faithfulness  and  genuine  loyalty  to  the  great  King  require  that 
at  our  hands,  it  that  be  the  King’s  meaning  and  intention  at 


1‘24 


THE  MOBERLY  PUBPIT. 


the  different  times  when  he  used  the  words.  We  must  not  stag¬ 
ger  at  the  words  of  the  Lord  nor  stumble  at  his  commands  be¬ 
cause  they  look  hard  to  us.  Abraham  staggered  not  when, 
commanded  to  offer  his  son.  The  putting  out  of  an  eye,  though 
terrible  to  contemplate,  is  less  fearml  than  to  slay  an  only,  well 
beloved  son.  Besides,  God  actually  gave  his  only  begotten  and 
His  well  beloved  Son  to  be  put  to  a  most  shameful  and  excruci¬ 
ating  death  for  our  sakes.  We  have  no  right  to  complain,  if  in 
an  emergency  He  should  call  for  an  eye  or  a  hand  or  a  foot. 

But  the  Savior  never  intended  that  we  should,  any  of  us,  put 
out  an  eye  or  cut  off  a  hand  literally.  The  apostles  understood 
him  correctly  and  taught  the  brethren  the  same  lesson  that 
Jesus  had  taught  them.  But  we  find  no  trace  of  a  literal  appli- 
cation  of  these  words  in  their  teachings.  But  the  duty  of  self- 
control  is  reiterated  by  them  forcibly  enough.  Dr.  Barnes,  com¬ 
menting  on  this  Scripture,  says :  “The  Hebrews,  like  others, 
were  accustomed  to  represent  the  affections  of  the  mind  by  the 
members  or  parts  of  the  body.”  He  adds:  “Thus  the  bowels , 
denoted  compassion;  the  heart ,  affection  or  feeling;  the  reins , 
understanding,  secret  purpose.  An  evil  eye  denotes  sometimes 
envy  (Matt,  xv:  15),  sometimes  an  evil  passion  or  sin  in  general 
(Mark  vii:  21,  22),  ‘out  of  the  heart  proceedeth  an  evil  eye?  In 
this  place,”  that  is,  in  Matt,  v:  29,  “  as  in  2  Peter  ii:  14,  it  is  used 
to  denote  strong  adulterous  passions,  unlawful  desire  and  in¬ 
clination.  The  right  eye  and  hand  are  mentioned,  because 
they  are  of  most  use  to  us,  and.  denote  that,  however  strong  the 
passion  may  be,  or  difficult  to  part  with,  yet  that  we  should  do  it.” 

This  quotation,  from  Dr.  Barnes,  presents  the  matter  in  its 
true  light.  The  members  of  the  body  are  made  to  represent 
the  passions.  In  this  Scripture,  as  the  Doctor  says,  the  eye  “  Is 
used  to  denote  strong  adulterous  passion,  unlawful  desire.” 
But  “unlawful  desire”  ought  to  be  killed.  But  when  “unlaw¬ 
ful  desire”  is  represented  by  the  right  eye,  the  Savior  says: 
“Pluck  it  out,”  meaning  thereby  to  uproot  and  dislodge  the 
unlawful  desire  from  the  heart,  and  thus  prevent  the  sin  that 
would  be  committed  if  that  “  unlawful  desire  ”  be  permitted  to 
live  in  the  heart.  Let  it  be  plucked  out  and  cast  away. 

This  explanation  of  the  plucking  out  an  eye  and  the  cutting  off 
a  hand  or  a  foot  is  the  correct  one  for  Matt,  xviii:  8,  9,  and  Mark 
ix  :  43,  where  the  same‘ideas  are  expressed.  The  explanation 


SELF-CONTROL. 


125 


already  given  the  word  offense,  from  the  Greek  word  skandalon 
and  the  verb  offend  from  sJcandalizo  is  the  proper  one  for  both 
these  passages. 

This  view  of  these  passages  harmonizes  well  with  the  subse¬ 
quent  teachings  of  the  inspired  apostles.  Paul  says :  “  There¬ 
fore,  brethren,  we  are  debtors,  not  to  the  flesh,  to  live  after  the 
flesh.  For  if  ye  live  after  the  flesh,  ye  shall  die :  but  if  ye, 
through  the  Spirit,  do  mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall 
live.”  Rom.  viii:  12,  13.  The  word  mortify,  in  this  place,  is 
from  thanatoo,  in  the  original,  and  that  means,  literally,  in  the 
Greek:  “To  put  to  death,  deliver  to  death.”  This  is  quite  as 
pointed  and  quite  as  severe  as  the  Lord's  precept,  to  pluck  out 
the  eye.  Paul  makes  it  a  condition  of  life,  that  the  Christian 
shall  put  the  deeds  of  the  flesh  to  death.  The  deeds  of  the 
flesh,  to  be  so  severely  dealt  with,  are  the  improper  indulgence 
of  the  passions.  When  the  eye  represents  one  of  these,  the 
Savior  says:  “Pluck  it  out.”  When  Paul  speaks  of  the  thing 
itself,  he  says :  Put  it  to  death,  kill  it.  The  two  teachers,  Christ 
and  Paul,  are  substantially  harmonious.  Obedience  in  the 
former  case  was  to  result  in  entering  into  life,  and  in  the  latter, 
“ye  shall  live.”  Disobedience  in  the  former  case,  in  its  results, 
casts  the  “whole  body  into  hell.”  In  the  latter,  the  disobedi¬ 
ent  one  “shall  die.”  Paul  then  is  parallel  with  Christ  in  his 
teachings  on  the  subject  of  self-control. 

But  Paul  goes  further  and  tells  us  how  the  work  is  to  be  done. 
“If  ye,  through  the  Spirit,  do  mortify  the  deeds  of  the  flesh,” 
expresses  the  method  of  killing  the  lustful  fleshly  deeds.  The 
Christian  does  the  work  himself.  He  must  not  depend  on 
another  to  do  the  work  for  him.  It  will  not  be  done  at  all  if 
he  waits  for  another.  But  he  does  it  “through  the  Spirit.” 
The  act  of  mortifying  the  flesh  is  his  own  act,  but  he  has  the 
help  of  the  Spirit.  He  does  not  overcome  the  flesh  by  his  own 
power  only.  If  he  depends  on  himself  he  will  fail.  But  when 
in  humility  and  in  full  assurance  of  faith,  he  struggles  with  the 
flesh,  the  Spirit  aids  him  and  strengthens  him  for  the  conflict. 
In  that  sense  the  Spirit  gives  him  the  victory.  There  is  no 
mistaking  what  Spirit  it  is  through  which  the  deeds  of  the  flesh 
are  mortified,  for  Paul  immediately  adds:  “For  as  mauy  as  are 

led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God.”  It  is  the 

i 


126 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


Spirit  of  God,  then,  through  which  the  man  of  God  gains  the 
victory  over  the  flesh. 

Again,  the  lesson  of  self-government  is  urged  in  strong  lan¬ 
guage  by  Paul,  as  follows:  “Mortify  therefore  your  members 
which  are  upon  the  earth,  fornication,  uncleanness,  inordinate 
affection,  evil  concupiscence,  and  covetousness  which  is  idol¬ 
atry  :  for  which  things  sake,  the  wrath  of  God  cometh  on  the 
children  of  disobedience.”  Col.  iii :  5,  6. 

Here  the  word  mortify  comes  from  the  Greek  verb  nekroo 
and  it  is  defined :  “  To  put  to  death,  kill.”  This  is  parallel  with 
the  words  of  Jesus,  when  he  says  pluck  out  the  eye.  He  speaks 
of  the  bodily  organs  representing  the  depraved  passions,  and 
Paul  does  the  same  thing  in  the  use  of  the  word  members, 
which  here  comes  from  the  Greek  word  melos,  defined:  “A 
member,  link,  any  part  of  the  body.”  But  he  does  not  mean 
that  the  Colossians  should  kill  their  bodily  parts,  for  he  goes 
on  and  specifies  what  he  means  by  members,  what  particular 
members  he  would  have  killed.  The  first  one  is  fornication. 
Why  kill  it?  Because  it  is  the  unlawful  indulgence,  the  base 
prostitution,  the  abnormal  use  of  one  of  the  natural  animal  pas¬ 
sions.  It  is  this  perverted  abnormal  condition,  and  sinful  use 
of  the  natural  appetite  that  Paul  peremptorily  commands  to 
have  killed.  It  is  simply  a  question  of  life  and  death.  The  man, 
who  in  obedience  to  the  apostolic  precept,  puts  to  death  these 
unlawful,  sinful  members,  will  thereby  be  enabled  to  live  for¬ 
ever,  but  the  man  who,  failing  in  this,  allows  the  baser  lusts  to 
rule  him,  and  reigu  in  his  soul,  will  have  to  die  the  second  death, 
which  is  to  be  cast  “  Into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone.”  The 
case  is  urgent.  The  battle  must  be  fought  and  the  victory  won. 

He  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  carefully  examine  will  find 
that  uncleanness,  inordinate  affection,  evil  concupiscence,  mem¬ 
bers  that  Paul  would  have  put  to  death,  are  of  like  kind  with 
fornication,  and  the  same  exegesis  applies  to  each  of  them. 
They  are  unpopular  sins.  They  hide  from  the  public  gaze. 

But  there  is  another  member,  another  perverted  natural  ap¬ 
petite,  that  Paul  would  have  killed.  It  is  covetousness.  Cov¬ 
etousness  is  from  pleonexia  in  the  original.  It  is  defined  to  be 
“An  inordinate  desire  of  riches,  covetousness.”  We  have,  in 
our  day,  strangely  changed  the  standard  of  morals  from  the 
New  Testament  standard.  A  covetous,  rich  man  is  considered 


SELF-CONTROL. 


127 


respectable  in  this  country,  simply  because  he  is  rich.  A  rich, 
covetous  man  who  dodges  the  assessor  and  exacts  the  highest 
possible  rate  of  interest,  and  seizes  the  poor  man’s  home  under 
a  “  cut-throat  mortgage,”  at  one-half  its  value,  and  often  less,  is 
tolerated  and  petted  in  the  church.  He  is,  even  too  frequently, 
honored  with  official  position  in  the  church.  But  if  a  poor,  silly 
girl  is  coaxed  to  attend  a  dance,  out  she  goes,  out  of  the  church, 
often  condemned  by  a  money-loving  church  official  whose  sin 
of  covetousness  is  a  hundred  fold  more  despicable  in  the  eyes 
of  God  than  hers.  Her  sin  is  a  sin,  it  is  true,  a  mote  in  the  eye, 
but  his  is  a  huge  beam. 

Covetousness  screens  itself  behind  the  law.  Covetous  men 
boast  of  their  justice  and  twit  their  poor  brethren  with  the 
boast  that  they  pay  all  their  just  debts.  How  much  right  has 
a  man  to  boast  of  doing  that  which  he  could  not  avoid  ?  These 
men  are  honest  only  in  the  eye  of  the  law  of  human  enactment. 
The  law  of  the  land  tolerates  many  things  that  the  law  of  the 
Lord  does  not.  There  is  no  State  law  against  stinginess,  but 
the  law  of  God  is  terribly  severe  against  it.  In  God’s  eye  it  is 
a  capital  crime.  Paul  says  to  kill  it. 

There  is  an  old  proverb  that  says :  “  Show  me  the  company  a 
man  keeps  and  I  will  tell  you  what  kind  of  a  man  he  is.”  There 
is  much  truth  and  good  sense  in  this  proverb.  In  like  manner 
show  me  the  kind  of  company  the  Lord  assigns  to  a  given  sin, 
and  I  will  show  you  what  the  Lord  thinks  of  that  particular 
sin.  Now  let  us  look  at  the  groups  of  sins  in  which  the  Lord 
places  the  sin  of  covetousness : 

Group  1.  “  Adulteries,  fornications,  murders,  thefts,  covet¬ 
ousness,  wickedness,  deceit,  lasciviousness,  an  evil  eye,  blas¬ 
phemy,  pride,  foolishness.”  Mark  vii :  21,  22. 

Group  2.  “Unrighteousness,  fornication,  wickedness,  covet¬ 
ousness,  maliciousness,  full  of  envy,  murder,  hate,  deceit,  ma¬ 
lignity,  whisperers,  back-biters,  haters  of  God,  despiteful, 
proud,  boasters,  inventors  of  evil  things,  disobedient  to  par¬ 
ents,  without  understanding,  covenant  breakers,  implacable, 
unmerciful.”  Rom.  i :  29-31. 

Group  3.  “  Who  being  past  feeling,  have  given  themselves 
over  unto  lasciviousness,  to  work  all  uncleanness  with  greedi¬ 
ness.”  Eph.  iv.  :  19.  Here  greediness  comes  from  pleonexia , 
the  word  rendered  covetousness  in  the  other  groups.  It  might 


128 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


as  well  have  been  rendered  covetousness  here  as  anywhere 
else,  though  greediness  is  a  good  rendering,  being  very  nearly 
a  synonym  of  covetousness.  The  phrase,  “  To  work  all  unclean¬ 
ness  with  greediness,”  is  in  the  Greek  more  pointed  still;  “with 
greediness  ”  coming  trom  en  pleonexia,  in  covetousness.  Some 
men's  very  souls  are  baptized,  immersed  in  covetous  greed. 
Such  a  man  soon  learns  to  disregard  the  rights  of  others.  He 
will,  when  he  has  the  opportunity,  appropriate  to  his  own  use 
another  man's  property,  another  man's  earnings,  another  man's 
good  name,  another  man's  wife,  or  any  thing  else  that  belongs 
to  another.  That  is  the  way  that  “  all  uncleanness  ”  is  wrought 
in  greediness.  When  a  man  becomes  thoroughly  covetous, 
there  is  almost  no  limit  to  the  depths  of  iniquity  into  which  he 
is  liable  to  sink.  His  unmitigated  selfishness  renders  him  blind 
to  the  rights,  feelings  and  wants  of  others.  He  can  only  [see 
that  which  will  contribute  to  his  own  selfish  greed. 

Group  4.  “  But  fornication  and  all  uncleanness,  or  covetous¬ 
ness,  let  it  not  be  once  named  amongst  you,  as  becometh 
saints:  neither  filthiness,  nor  foolish  talking, nor  jesting,  which 
are  not  convenient :  but  rather  giving  of  thanks.  For  this  ye 
know,  that  no  whoremonger,  nor  unclean  person,  nor  covetous 
man  who  is  an  idolator,  hath  any  inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  and  of  God.”  Eph.  v. :  3-5. 

Now  let  us  look  at  the  company  that  covetousness  keeps. 
In  group  1  we  find  it  in  companionship  with  adulteries,  fornica¬ 
tions,  murders,  thefts,  lasciviousness  and  blasphemy.  In  group 
2  we  find  it  in  the  company  of  all  unrighteousness,  fornication, 
maliciousness,  envy,  murder,  deceit,  back-bitings  and  hating 
God.  In  group  3  we  find  it  associated  with  lasciviousness  and 
all  uncleanness,  and  in  group  4  with  fornication,  uncleanness, 
and  filthiness,  and  the  covetous  man  is  found  in  the  com¬ 
pany  of  whoremongers,  and  declared  to  be  an  idolator.  This 
is  an  awfully  black  list.  These  are  terrible  and  shameful  sins. 
But  this  is  the  class  to  which  God  assigns  covetousness.  How¬ 
ever  much  we,  in  violation  of  Scripture,  may  tolerate  and  ex¬ 
cuse  the  sin  of  covetousness,  God  puts  it  on  an  equality  with 
these  sins.  In  God’s  eye  it  is  not  a  whit  better  than  they.  He 
puts  them  all  down  in  the  same  category.  They  are  also  in  the 
same  predicament.  For  Paul  says:  “That  no  whoremonger, 
nor  unclean  person,  nor  covetous  man  hath  any  inheritance  in 
h  e  kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  God.” 


SELF-CONTROL. 


129 


The  predicament  is  the  same.  The  covetous  man  is  declared 
to  have  no  inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Think  of 
that,  stingy  church  member!  You  have  no  interest,  no  inher¬ 
itance  in  Christ.  Are  there  not  many,  nominally  in  the  church, 
who  by  their  small  giving,  by  their  giving  grudgingly,  and  by 
their  not  giving  at  all,  that  have  cut  themselves  off  from  all 
share  in  the  blessings  of  Christ?  Do  they  not  belong  to  that 
unhappy,  numerous  class  of  self- deceived  ones,  who,  at  the 
judgment  of  that  great  day,  will  say:  “Lord,  Lord,  have  we 
not  prophesied  in  thy  name,  and  in  thy  name  cast  out  devils, 
and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works  ?”  This  class 
will  be  rejected  and  turned  away,  for  Jesus  says  :  “Then  will  1 
profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew  you  :  depart  from  me,  ye  that 
work  iniquity.”  The  reason  assigned  by  the  Savior  for  rejec¬ 
tion  in  one  class  is  that  they  had  not  done  any  works  of  benev¬ 
olence,  or  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  they  had  been 
stingy.  See  and  study  the  close  of  Matt.  xxv. 

Covetousness  will  exclude  a  man,  though  he  be  in  the  church 
here,  from  the  everlasting  kingdom.  Paul  says  that  covetous¬ 
ness  is  idolatry,  and  that  a  covetous  man  is  an  idolater.  He 
allows  the  insatiable  greed  for  money  to  usurp  the  Lord’s 
place  in  his  heart.  Of  course  he  can  not  go  to  heaven. 

Brethren,  let  us  heed  the  apostolic  admonition.  Let  us  be 
sure  that  we  both  learn  and  practice  self-control.  Let  us  be 
sure  that  we  be  not  idolaters  in  being  covetous  and  stingy. 
Let  us  rather  be  liberal  givers,  cheerful  givers,  that  we  may  be 
loved  of  the  Lord,  and  have  inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Let  us  resolve  that  with  the  Lord’s  help  we  will  be  mas¬ 
ters,  we  will  keep  in  subjection  the  body,  with  all  its  passions 
and  its  lusts.  Let  us  resolve  that  from  this  day  forever  we  w  ill 
not  be  covetous,  we  will  not  allow  stinginess  a  place  in  our 
hearts. 

Now,  dear  friends,  we  turn  to  you.  You  who  have  not  yet 
entered  upon  this  warfare  upon  the  lusts  aud  passions.  We  in¬ 
vite  you  to-day,  to  come  and  enlist  under  ibe  banner  of  the 
cross,  and  enroll  yourselves  in  the  Lord’s  army.  If  you  will 
confess  and  obey  him,  he  will  forgive  all  your  past  sins  aud 
give  you  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  will  help  you  to  overcome  your 
passions,  control  yourselves.  If  you  will  control  self  and  be 


130 


THE  MOBEKLY  PULPIT. 


faithful  to  Him  until  death,  He  will  help  you  to  cross  the  dark 
river  in  safety.  He  will  give  you  a  crown  of  glory  and  a  man¬ 
sion  in  the  Father’s  house.  While  the  brethren  sing : 

“Am  I  a  soldier  of  the  cross,” 
we  invite  you  in  his  name  to  come. 


SERMON  X, 


EVERLASTING  PUNISHMENT 


Preached  Lord’s  Day,  Oct.  10,  1880. 


Texts: 
— Jesus. 


“  Where  their  worm  dieth  not  and  the  fire  is  not  quen«hed.” 

HADES. 


“  The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.” — Jesus. 

“  In  hell  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments.”— Jesus. 

“  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  hell  ” — David. 

“  His  soul  was  not  left  in  hell.” — Peter. 

“And  have  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death.” — John. 

“And  hell  followed  with  him. — John. 

“Death  and  hell  delivered  up  the  dead  which  were  in  them.” — John. 
“Death  and  hell  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire” — John. 

GEHENNA. 

“  Whosoever  shall  say,  Thou  fool,  shall  be  in  danger  of  hell  fire.”— 

Jesus. 

“  It  is  profitable  for  thee  that  one  of  thy  members  should  perish,  and 
not  that  thy  whole  body  should  be  cast  into  hell.” — Jesus. 

“Fear  him  who  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell.” — Jesus. 
“  How  can  ye  escape  the  damnation  of  hell.” — Jesus. 


My  Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters  : 


Our  theme  to-day  is  “everlasting  punishment.”  It  is  ex¬ 
pressed  in  the  exact  words  of  the  Master,  as  rendered  in  the 
common  version  of  the  English  Scriptures.  The  correct  under¬ 
standing  of  any  Scripture  is  important.  It  is  an  important 
part  of  the  Christian  life  to  study  the  word  of  God.  Paul  tells 
the  Colossians  to  make  themselves  familiar  with  the  divine 
word  in  the  following  language :  “Let  the  word  of  Christ 
dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom.”  Col.  iii :  16.  “  The  word 
of  Christ”  does  not  dwell  richly  in  any  one  who  is  ignorant  of 
that  word.  The  apostle’s  command  involves  the  careful  study 
of  the  word  of  God.  If  for  no  other  reason,  it  is  our  duty  to 
study  the  Scriptures  which  treat  of  future  punishment,  that  we 
may  have  a  correct  understanding  of  Christ’s  words.  Further, 

it  is  important  because  our  present  Christian  life,  in  purity  ot 

131 


132 


THE  MOB  EEL  Y  PULPIT. 


morals,  and  in  practical  piety,  can  not  rise  higher  than  our 
knowledge  of  the  teachings  of  the  divine  Book.  Our. every 
day  life  may  fall  below  our  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  but  it 
can  never  rise  higher  than  that.  The  more  thoroughly  we 
understand  God’s  own  Book,  the  higher  we  may  rise  in  the 
scale  of  moral  being. 

We  now  proceed  to  quote  our  first  text  in  full :  “And  who¬ 
soever  shall  offend  one  of  these  little  ones  that  believe  in  me,  it 
is  better  for  him  that  a  millstone  were  hanged  about  his  neck, 
and  he  were  cast  into  the  sea.  And  if  thy  hand  offend  thee, 
cut  it  off:  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter  into  life  maimed  than, 
having  two  hands,  to  go  into  hell,  into  the  fire  that  never  shall 
be  quenched ;  where  their  worm  dieth  not.  and  the  fire  is  not 
quenched.  And  if  thy  foot  offend  thee  cut  it  off :  it  is  better 
for  thee  to  enter  halt  into  life  than,  having  two  feet,  to  be  cast 
into  hell,  into  the  fire  that  never  shall  be  quenched ;  where  their 
worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched.  And  if  thine  eye 
offend  thee,  pluck  it  out :  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  with  one  eye  than,  having  two  eyes,  to  be  cast 
into  hell  fire ;  where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not 
quenched.”  Mark  ix:  42-48. 

In  our  discourse  on  “  Self-Control  ”  we  sufficiently  discussed 
the  cutting  off  of  hand  and  foor,  and  the  plucking  out  an  eye. 
But  we  now  proceed  to  inquire  into  the  Saviors  meaning  when 
he  talks  about  “  the  fire  that  never  shall  be  quenched,”  and  the 
“worm”  that  “dieth  not.”  It  is  well  to  observe  here  that 
casting  into  hell,  in  this  place,  stands  in  antithesis  to  entering" 
into  life,  or  entering  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  Jesus  is  not 
teaching  sinners  how  to  become  Christians.  He  nowhere  does 
this.  That  work  he  assigned  to  the  apostles.  They  did  it.  He 
is  teaching  his  disciples  the  important  lesson  of  self-govern¬ 
ment.  He  gives,  as  the  sure  result  of  compliance  with  his 
teachings,  that  they  would'  “enter  into  life,”  but  if  they  did 
not  comply  with  his  instructions,  that  they  would  “be  cast  into 
hell.”  We  saw  very  plainly  in  our  last  discourse  that  the  duty 
of  self-government  is  a  lifetime  business  with  every  disciple  of 
Christ,  and  it  is  quite  clear  that  the  reward  of  that  lifetime 
obedience  will  be  entered  upon  when  this  earth-life  is  ended. 
Eternal  life  is  surely  the  reward  that,  will  be  given  to  the  faith¬ 
ful  disciple.  But,  in  our  text,  being  “  cast  into  hell,  into  the 


EVERLASTING  PUNISHMENT. 


133 


fire  that  never  shall  be  quenched,”  is  the  penalty  of  unfaithful¬ 
ness,  and  stands  in  antithesis  to  this  eternal  life.  Then,  if  the 
life  into  which  the  faithful  ones  enter  is  never  to  end,  neither 
will  the  state  of  punishment  into  which  the  unfaithful  ones 
enter  ever  terminate. 

We  now  raise  the  questions,  following:  What  is  the  mean¬ 
ing  of  hell?  What  is  meant  by  the  “  worm”  that  “diethnot?” 
What  is  the  meaning  of  “the  fire”  that  “is  not  quenched”? 
These  questions,  correctly  answered,  we  need  not  have  any 
difficulty  in  understanding  our  whole  text. 

I.  What  is  the  Meaning  of  Hell?  The  word  often  occurs 
in  the  Bible,  in  both  Old  Testament  and  New.  In  the  common 
version  it  comes  from  two  different  words  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  Greek.  It  comes  from  hades  ten  times.  The  best  way 
to  get  at  the  meaning  of  the  word  hell,  in  the  Scriptures,  is 
first  to  get  the  meaning  of  the  word  in  the  original  whence  it 
comes,  and  then  study  the  passage  in  which  it  occurs  in  its 
connection.  It  comes  from  ge  enna,  popularly  spelled  gehenna, 
twelve  times.  In  studying  the  meaning  of  the  word  in  any 
particular  passage,  it  is  quite  important  to  know  from  which  of 
these  two  words  in  the  original  it  comes.  Hades  in  the  Greek 
is  a  compound  word,  made  up  of  a  {alpha)  and  idein.  Jdein 
means  to  see.  But  the  prefix  a  {alpha)  negatives,  exactly 
reverses  the  meaning,  so  that  hades  means,  literally,  the 
unseen.  The  unseen  state,  the  unseen  world,  the  invisible 
world,  would  be  good  renderings  of  the  word.  It  is  defined 
by  Pickering:  “The  infernal  regions,  hell,  death;  place  or 
state  of  the  dead;  Pluto;  melas  hades,  gloomy  Pluto.”  Pluto 
was  the  god  of  the  lower  regions.  The  Greeks  believed  him  to 
live  and  reign  in  the  invisible  world.  Their  conception  of  that 
world  was  that  it  was  continually  dark,  always  gloomy.  They 
applied  the  name  of  the  place  to  the  god  himself,  calling  him 
melas  hades,  meaning  dark  Pluto.  It  is  quite  clear,  then,  that 
the  classic  use  of  the  word  applies  to  the  state  of  the  dead,  to 
that  state  or  condition  of  humanity  that  is  invisible  to  the  eyes 
of  flesh. 

Bagster  defines  it  in  his  Lexicon  to  the  Greek  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  to  mean  :  “  The  invisible  abode  or  mansion  of  the  dead ; 
the  place  of  punishment;  hell;  the  lowest  place  or  condition.” 

It  is  perfectly  certain  that,  in  the  light  of  these  definitions, 


134 


THE  M0BERLY  PULPIT. 


any  punishment  or  any  reward  pertaining  to  that  state  will  be 
Buffered  or  enjoyed,  as  the  case  may  be,  after  death.  None  of 
the  ills  suffered  in  hades  are  this  side  the  grave.  The  punish¬ 
ments  or  the  rewards  to  be  had  in  that  state  are,  to  the  life  that 
now  is,  future.  The  Universalist’s  idea  that  a  sinner  gets  all 
his  punishment  “as  he  goes  along,”  gets  it  in  this  life,  is  sadly 
out  of  joint  with  the  Scriptures  where  the  word  hades  occurs. 
Let  us  examine  them.  They  will,  every  one  of  them,  show  the 
definitions  given  to  be  strictly  correct.  The  first  one  is :  “  Thou 
Capernaum,  which  art  exalted  unto  heaven,  shalt  be  brought 
down  to  h^ll.”  Matt,  xi:  23.  Hades  is  here  in  antithesis  to 
ouranon,  heaven.  Both  are  used  figuratively,  but  hades  is 
true  to  its  primary  meaning.  Capernaum,  with  all  its  advan¬ 
tages,  has  disappeared  from  human  sight.  Its  very  site  is  no 
longer  known.  The  parallel  passage  in  Luke  x :  15,  is  just  like 
it.  “Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church,  and  the  gates  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.”  Matt,  xvi:  18.  Here  again 
hades  represents  the  unseen,  the  abode  of  the  dead  where 
Satan,  at  the  time  of  this  utterance,  ruled  supreme,  holding 
humanity  bound  in  the  dominion  of  death.  The  object  of 
building  the  church  was  to  inaugurate  a  war  upon  the  dark, 
gloomy  dominion  of  death.  Satan  has  his  seat  in  hades.  His 
will  and  his  counsels  are,  and  were,  to  hold  humanity  in  the 
unseen  estate.  But  Christ,  by  building  his  church,  by  setting 
on  foot  the  scheme  of  redemption,  intended  to  raise  every  man 
from  the  dead.  Then  hades  will  be  thoroughly  conquered. 
Jesus  promised  all  this  when  he  said:  “The  gates  of  hell 
{hades)  shall  not  prevail  against  it.” 

Again.  “In  hell  he  lifted  up  his  eyes, being  in  torments.’* 
Luke  xvi:  23.  Here  we  find  “ torments ”  in  hades.  This  pun¬ 
ishment  is  after  death,  for  it  is  expressly  stated  by  the  Lord 
himself  that  “  the  rich  man  also  died  and  was  buried.”  These 
“torments”  were,  beyond  all  doubt,  subsequent  to  the  man’s 
death  and  burial.  This  surely  establishes  the  fact  that  there  is 
punishment  after  death.  It  seems  that  it  would  take  an  infidel 
and  a  blasphemer  to  say  that  “  all  the  punishment  a  man  gets 
for  his  wicked  deeds  is  meted  out  to  him  in  the  misfortunes  of 
the  present  life.”  Some  men,  who  oppose  the  doctrine  of 
*  everlasting  punishment”  because  it  is  opposed  to  their  own 
sinful  lives,  tell  us  that,  “  the  worst  hell  a  man  has  to  endure 


EVERLASTING  PUNISHMENT. 


135 


consists  in  the  goadings  of  his  own  guilty  conscience.”  It  is  to 
be  feared  that  these  men  are  willingly  ignorant  of  the  Scriptures. 
They  forget,  or  rather,  never  knew,  that  the  practice  of  sin  ren¬ 
ders  the  conscience  finally  insensible.  If  the  twinges  of  a  guilty 
conscience  are  the  only  punishment  of  sin,  or  the  chief  punish¬ 
ment  of  sin,  then  the  greater  the  sinner  the  less  the  punishment. 
The  first  oath  sworn  by  a  boy  troubles  his  conscience  more  than 
a  thousand  oaths  after  he  has  become  a  hardened  swearer.  The 
older  the  sinner,  and  the  longer  the  sin  is  practiced,  and  the 
oftener  repeated,  the  lighter  the  punishment.  But  it  was  not 
so  in  the  case  of  the  “rich  man.”  As  long  as  he  lived,  he  “was 
clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  and  fared  sumptuously  every 
day.”  But  after  he  “died  and  was  buried,”  he  was  subjected 
to  “torments.”  The  simple  fact  of  punishment  after  death  is 
most  unmistakably  taught  here.  “  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul 
in  hell.”  Acts  ii :  27.  “  His  soul  was  not  left  in  hell.”  Acts  ii : 
81.  In  both  these  quotations  hell  is  King  James’  rendering  of 
hades.  The  first  one  of  these  passages  is  quoted  by  the  apostle 
Peter  from  David  iu  Psalm  xvi :  10.  There  David,  as  a  prophet, 
foretells  the  resurrection  of  Christ  from  the  dead.  He  said: 
“  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  hell ;  neither  wilt  thou  suffer 
thine  Holy  One  to  see  corruption.”  Peter,  in  this  verse,  makes 
an  exact  quotation  from  the  Septuagint.  David  is  here  fore¬ 
telling  the  resurrection  of  Christ  from  the  dead.  Verses  26,  27, 
28  of  Acts  ii  are  quoted  in  the  Greek  Testament,  verbatim,  by 
Peter  on  Pentecost  day,  from  the  9, 10,  and  11  verses  of  the  xvi 
Psalm  in  the  Septuagint.  Peter  made  this  quotation  under  the 
inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  is  indorsement  enough 
of  the  correctness  of  the  Septuagint  in  that  passage,  and  it 
affords  a  fine  illustration  of  the  use  of  the  word  hades.  When 
Jesus  died  his  body  went  to  the  grave  in  the  earth,  and  his  soul 
went  into  hades.  His  soul  was  not  left  in  hades ,  and  his  flesh 
did  not  see  corruption  ;  that  is,  it  did  not  undergo  decomposi¬ 
tion  in  the  grave.  His  soul,  at  the  resurrection,  came  out  of 
hades ,  and  his  flesh,  the  body,  came  out  of  the  earth. 

“O  death,  where  is  thy  sling?  O  grave,  where  is  thy  vic¬ 
tory?”  1  Cor.  xv :  55.  In  this  verse  hades  is  rendered  grave. 
This  is  the  only  instance  in  which  it  is  so  rendered  in  the  com¬ 
mon  version.  While  the  word  grave  does  no  very  serious 


136 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


violence  to  Paul's  meaning,  it  would  have  been  better  to  have 
rendered  hades,  unseen  world. 

“ I  am  he  that  liveth  and  was  dead;  and  behold, I  am  alive 
forever  more,  amen ;  and  have  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death.” 
Rev.  i :  18.  Here  again,  hades  is  translated  hell.  The  unseen 
world  would  have  been  far  better.  The  risen,  living  Savior 
simply  asserts  his  power  over  both  death  and  the  unset  n  world. 
He  has  felt  the  pangs  of  the  one  and  overcome  if,  and  has  gone 
into  the  other  and  come  out  of  it.  Under  the  symbol  of  keys 
he  claims  the  right  and  the  power  to  loose  the  pains  of  death 
and  unlock  tbe  prison  house  of  death,  and  bring  every  man  out 
of  the  unseen  world.  Translating  hades  by  the  word  hell  in 
this  place  was  a  mistake.  It  has  given  unprincipled  cavilers  an 
opportunity  to  deceive  the  unlearned  by  telling  them  that  hell 
would  come  to  an  end.  The  state  of  the  dead  will  terminate  at 
the  general  resurrection.  But  hell,  when  it  comes  trom 
gehenna,  is  the  name  of  a  state  or  condition  of  things  beyond 
the  resurrection. 

“And  I  looked,  and  beheld  a  pale  horse,  and  his  name  that  sat 
on  him  was  Death,  and  hell  followed  with  him.”  Rev.  vi:  18. 
Here  again,  the  word  hell  is  King  James’  rendering  of  hades. 
In  this  vision  John  saw  death  personified.  A  man  dies  and  his 
soul  departs  to  the  unseen  world.  The  act  of  dying  is  followed 
by  the  soul’s  abode  in  the  invisible  world  while  it  waits  for  the 
general  resurrection.  The  one  follows  the  other,  as  a  matter  of 
fact.  When  death  is  personified  and  rides  “  a  pale  horse,” 
hades  is  also  personified,  and  follows  after  him.  In  this  place 
also  hades  ought  not  to  have  been  rendered  hell.  Its  being  so 
translated  has  tended  to  confusion  in  the  popular  mind. 

“And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in  it;  and  death 
and  hell  delivered  up  the  dead  which  were  in  them ;  and  they 
were  judged,  every  man  according  to  their  works ;  and  death 
and  hell  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  This  is  the  second 
death.”  Rev.  xx:  13,  14.  In  both  these  verses  hell  comes 
from  hades.  Death  and  hell  are  personified  in  both  these 
verses.  So  is  the  sea,  in  verse  13.  They  are  represented  as 
living,  acting  agencies,  surrendering  their  victims  and  their 
power.  This  is  simply  foretelling  the  general  resurrection  and 
the  final  judgment  in  prophetic  symbols.  Death  and  hell 


EVERLASTING  PUNISHMENT. 


137 


(hades)  are  made  to  personate  the  wicked,  that  they  contain,  in 
being  ‘  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.” 

We  have  now  considered  all  the  passages  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  in  which  the  word  hades  occurs,  and  it  is  perfectly  clear 
that  it  is  the  name  given  to  the  abode  of  the  departed  spirits 
after  death,  and  previous  to  the  resurrection  from  the  dead. 
While  the  bodies  of  men  rest  in  the  earth,  their  souls  abide  in 
hades.  While  there  is  happiness  in  hades  for  the  souls  of  the 
righteous,  and  anguish  for  the  souls  of  the  wicked,  it  is  not  the 
final  abode  of  the  righteous  nor  of  the  wicked.  Beyond  the 
unseen  world,  hades,  the  children  of  God  will  go  into  heaven, 
and  the  children  of  the  Devil  into  hell.  gehenna.  If  hades  had 
been  uniformly  translated,  unseen  world,  and  gehenna,  hell,  it 
would  have  saved  much  confusion  and  unprofitable  debate. 

But  before  leaving  this  passage  let  us  take  another  careful 
look  at  it.  Casting  “  into  the  lake  of  fire  ”  is  positively  said  to 
be  “the  second  death.”  This  is  said  in  immediate  connection 
with  the  fact  of  the  resurrection,  and  is  called  “the  second 
death  ”  in  contradistinction  to  the  death  from  which  all  the 
dead,  John,  in  vision,  had  just  seen  rise  up.  In  that  vision 
John  saw  “a  great  white  throne.”  He  saw  “the  dead,  small 
and  great,  stand  before  God.”  He  saw  the  books  opened.  He 
saw  the  book  of  life  opened.  He  saw  the  dead  delivered  up 
and  judged.  He  saw  them  standing  alive.  He  saw  all  whose 
names  were  “  not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life  ”  die  “  the 
second  death.”  “And  whosoever  was  not  found  written  in  the 
book  of  life  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  ”  Yerse  15.  “  This  is 
the  second  death.”  Now,  one  of  two  things  is  true :  either 
John  tells  a  falsehood,  or  all  the  wicked  who  reject  Christ, 
“who  know  not  God  and  obey  not  the  gospel,”  are  going  to  be 
“  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire,”  are  going  to  die  again,  after  the 
resurrection.  This  second  death  is  an  eternal  separation  from 
God,  and  is  the  eternal  penalty  due  an  unbelieving,  unrepent¬ 
ant,  unregenerate  sinner.  From  it  there  is  no  escape  unless  it 
can  be  shown  that  God  has  made  provision  for  a  deliverance 
from  “the  second  death.”  Let  him  who  denies  the  eternity  of 
the  punishment  of  the  wicked  find  authority  for  such  deliver¬ 
ance  if  he  can ! 

We  next  proceed  to  examine  the  passages  in  which,  in  the 
New  Testament,  the  word  hell  comes  from  gehenna.  Remember 


138 


THE  MOBEKLY  PULPIT. 


that  we  are  still  answering  the  question  :  What  is  the  meaning 
of  hell  f 

“  But  I  say  unto  you  that  whosoever  is  angry  with  his  brother 
without  a  cause  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment:  and  who¬ 
soever  shall  say  to  his  brother,  Raca ,  shall  be  in  danger  of  the 
council ;  but  whosoever  shall  say,  Thou  fool,  shall  be  in  danger 
of  hell  fire.  ’  Matt,  v :  22.  Gehenna  was  the  name  given  to  a 
place  near  Jerusalem  where  the  most  horrid  idolatrous  worship 
was  practiced  thousands  of  years  ago.  Because  the  word  was 
applied  to  that  place  of  bad  notoriety,  those  who  seek  to  evade 
the  force  of  this  and  other  texts  that  speak  of  the  penalties  due 
to  sin,  vainly  endeavor  to  make  the  word  apply  only  to  that 
spot  of  ground  where  some  of  the  darkest  deeds  of  earth  have 
been  done.  Listen  to  the  true  history  of  the  place,  as  given  by 
the  best  authority : 

“The  word  gehenna,  commonly  translated  hell,  is  made  up  of 
two  Hebrew  words,  and  signifies  the  valley  of  Hinnom.  This 
was  formerly  a  pleasant  valley,  near  to  Jerusalem,  on  the  south. 
A  small  brook,  or  torrent  usually  ran  through  this  valley,  and 
partly  encompassed  the  city.  This  valley  the  idolatrous  Israel¬ 
ites  devoted  formerly  to  the  horrid  worship  of  Moloch.  2 
Kings  xvi :  3 ;  2  Chron.  xxviii :  3.  In  that  worship,  the  ancient 
Jewish  writers  inform  us  that  the  idol  of  Moloch  was  of  brass, 
adorned  with  a  royal  crown,  having  the  head  of  a  calf,  and  his 
arms  extended  as  if  to  embrace  any  one.  When  they  offered 
children  to  him  they  heated  the  statue  within  by  a  great  fire, 
and  when  it  was  burning  hot,  they  put  the  miserable  child  into 
his  arms,  where  it  was  soon  consumed  by  the  heat;  and,  in 
order  that  the  cries  of  the  child  might  not  be  heard,  they  made 
a  great  noise  with  drums  and  other  instruments  about  the  idol. 
These  drums  were  called  Toph  ;  and  hence  a  common  name  of 
the  place  was  Tophet.  Jer.  vii :  31,  32.” — Barnes. 

This  is  the  history  of  the  place  in  the  days  of  the  idolatrous 
kings  of  Judah.  King  Ahaz  oflered  his  own  offspring  to  Mol¬ 
och  there,  more  than  seven  hundred  years  before  the  Christian 
era.  King  Manasseh  offered  his  children  there  sometime  during 
his  long  reign,  which  closed  about  six  hundred  and  forty  years 
before  Christ.  The  place  was  polluted  by  King  Josiah  during 
his  reign,  which  closed  six  hundred  and  ten  years  before  Christ. 
The  abominable  idolatries  were  never  resumed  there  after  that. 


EVERLASTING  PUNISHMENT. 


139 


In  a  short  time  the  Jews  were  carried  captive  to  Babylon,  where 
they  remained  seventy  years.  After  that  they  never  practiced 
idolatry.  For  more  than  six  centuries  these  horrid  rites  had 
been  discontinued  before  Christ  gave  utterance  to  the  language 
under  consideration.  The  place  had  long  since  ceased  to  be 
used  for  burning  human  sacrifices.  But  it  was  horribly  unclean 
to  a  Jew  ever  since  Josiah’s  day.  Its  name  had  been  used  to 
denote  the  place  of  final  punishment  for  devils  and  wicked 
men.  Thus  the  Savior  uses  it  in  the  language  now  under  con¬ 
sideration. 

The  Lord  here  speaks  of  three  grades  of  crime,  and  three 
penalties,  and  three  courts.  The  courts  are,  first,  the  judg¬ 
ment  ;  second,  the  council ;  the  third  is  not  named,  but  the 
penalty  is,  it  is  “  hell  fire.”  The  first  tribunal  is,  in  the  original, 
krisis,  here  rendered  judgment;  the  second  is  sunedrion ,  here 
rendered  council ;  the  third  penalty  is  the  Gehenna  of  fire,  or, 
as  rendered  here,  “  hell  fire.”  The  three  crimes  are :  First, 
being  “angry  with  his  brother  without  a  cause;”  the  second  is 
to  “say  to  his  brother  Baca,”  or  Baka;  the  third  is  to  say 
“  Thou  fool,”  to  say  More.  Baka  is  a  word  of  great  contempt, 
but  More  (pronounced  with  two  syllables,  thus,  Mo-re.)  was  the 
very  meanest  epithet  that  brother  could  apply  to  brother.  Jesus, 
in  the  preceding  verse,  had  just  said :  “Ye  have  heard  that  it 
was  said  by  them  of  old  time,  Thou  shalt  not  kill ;  and  whoso¬ 
ever  shall  kill,  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment,”  of  the  krisis. 
This  was  the  lower  court  that  sat  in  each  one  of  the  cities  of 
Israel.  It  had  the  authority  to  inflict  the  death  penalty  on 
murderers.  But,  being  the  lower  court,  the  more  difficult  and 
important  cases  were  carried  up  to  the  council,  the  sunedrion. 
This  was  the  Jewish  Sanhedrim,  the  supreme  court  of  the  Jew¬ 
ish  nation.  From  its  decisions  there  was  no  appeal. 

Jesus  is  now,  in  that  “  Sermon  on  the  Mount,”  promulgating 
his  new  and  “  higher  law.”  Under  the  reigu  of  Christ  to  desire 
to  commit  a  wrong  deed  is  equally  sinful,  so  far  as  the  man  who 
entertains  the  impure  and  unholy  desire  is  concerned,  as  if  the 
deed  were  actually  perpetrated.  Thus,  under  the  old  law,  the 
man  who  killed  was  “in  danger  of  the  judgment,”  the  krisis; 
but  under  Christ,  the  man  who  indulges  malicious  hate,  who 
only  desires  to  kill,  is  “in  danger  of  the  judgment,”  the  krisis. 
So,  Christ  puts  the  man  who  has  murderous  hate  in  his  heart 


140 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


on  the  same  plane,  precisely,  where  the  old  law  put  the  man 
who  actually  spilled  his  brother’s  blood.  But  the  man  who 
embodies  that  murderous  hate  that  he  is  nursing  in  his  heart 
in  the  utterance  of  the  contemptuous  word  Raka,  is  a  greater 
sinner,  and  is  “in  danger  of  the  council,”  the  sunedrion ,  the 
Sanhedrim,  the  highest  earthly  court  acknowledged  by  a  Jew. 
But  the  man  who  formulates  the  vindictive  malice  in  his  heart 
in  the  word  More  is  a  greater  sinner  still.  Neither  the  judg¬ 
ment,  krisis ,  nor  the  council,  sunedrion,  Sanhedrim,  is  compe¬ 
tent  to  take  cognizance  of  his  case.  His  offense  is  beyond  their 
jurisdiction.  He  is  amenable  to  the  court  that  has  power  to 
cast  into  hell.  He  is  “  in  danger  of  hell  fire,”  a  penalty  that  no 
earthly  court  can  inflict.  None  but  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
universe  has  jurisdiction  in  his  case.  The  penalty  is  too  awful 
to  be  entrusted  to  any  court  where  there  is  the  least  possibility 
of  mistake. 

Did  Jesus  here  mean  to  say  that  the  man  who  said  More  to 
his  brother  was  in  danger  of  being  burnt  bodily  in  the  literal 
valley  just  south  of  Jerusalem?  We  answer  no,  for  the  follow¬ 
ing  reasons : 

1.  There  is  no  proof  that  there  was  at  that  time  any  fires 
kindled  in  the  valley  at  all.  The  fires  that  made  the  place 
notorious  had  been  extinguished  for  more  than  six  hundred 
years. 

2.  No  court  then  in  existence  in  Judea  had  any  authority  to 
burn  any  human  being  for  any  offense. 

3.  No  one  in  that  age  was  in  any  danger  whatever  of  being 
cast  into  the  fire  of  Gehenna,  south  of  Jerusalem. 

4.  If  Jesus  meant  to  assert  that  the  man  who  said  to  his  broth¬ 
er,  More,  was  in  any  danger  of  burning  in  the  little  valley  south 
of  the  city,  he  stated  what  was  not  true.  Being  burned  literally 
was  not  the  penalty  of  any  offense  under  any  law  then  in  force  in 
Judea. 

5.  But  Jesus  is  the  Sou  of  God  and  never  did,  nor  never  will, 
make  a  false  statement.  The  assertion  that  he  does  make,  in 
this  place,  is  strictly  true. 

6.  The  man  who  says  to  his  brother.  More,  Jesus  says,  “Shall 
be  in  danger  of  hell  fire.”  This  is  true.  If  not  Jesus  never 
would  have  said  it. 

But  we  had  already  seen  that  it  would  not  be  true  if  he  had 


EVERLASTING  PUNISHMENT. 


141 


meant  t i  assert  that  the  man  was  in  danger  of  the  fires  of  the 
valley  of  gehenna,  near  the  city.  Then  the  word  has  another 
application  than  that.  But  the  word  only  has  two  significations. 
The  one,  the  valley  where  Molech  was  worshiped  with  human 
sacrifices,  the  other,  the  place  of  final  punishment  for  both 
wicked  men  and  devils.  Jn  this  passage,  the  latter  is  meant. 
From  this  time  can  be  no  rrasonable  escape. 

The  phras3,  “in  danger  of”  in  this  place,  i3  the  rendering 
of  a  single  word  in  the  Greek.  It  is  enokos,  and  is  rendered,  in 
the  Common  Version,  “in  danger  of”  five  times,  “guilty  of”  four 
times,  and  ‘subject  to”  once.  The  best  rendering  is  “subject 
to.”  The  expression  “hell  fire,”  in  this  place  is,  in  the  Greek  : 
ei8  teen  gee/ an  ton  puros.  We  give  eick  ot  these  five  words, 
for  you  see  there  are  five  of  them,  instead  of  two  as  in  the 
Common  Version,  with  its  literal  English  meaning  printed 
under  it. 

Eis  tten  geenan  ton  puros. 

into  the  hell  of  the  fire. 

But  whosoever  shall  say  More ,  “fool,  ’  shall  be  subject  to  be 
cast  into  the  hell  of  the  fire,  exactly  expresses,  in  English,  what 
the  Savior  said  in  Greek 

The  man  who  denies  that  there  is  a  hell,  into  which  the  man 
who  says  More  to  his  brother,  and  never  repents,  will  be  cast, 
makes  Jesus  a  liar.  He  may  be  ignorant  of  what  he  is  doing, 
but  the  fact  stands,  that,  whether  wili fully  or  ignorantly,  he 
makes  our  Lord  a  liar.  “Let  God  be  true,  but  every  man  a 
liar,”  says  Paul. 

In  th  i  29th  verse  of  the  sam  i  chapter  that  we  have  been  con¬ 
sidering,  and  in  the  same  discourse,  the  Savior  says :  “it  is 
profi  able  for  thee  that  one  of  thy  members  should  perish,  and 
not  that  thy  whole  body  should  be  cast  into  hell.”  This  is  re¬ 
peated  in  the  next  verse,  1  his  language  can  not  apply  to  the 
hateful  valley,  for  the  reasons  already  given  on  verse  22nd. 
There  never  was  in  Jud-  a  any  law  to  put  auv  one  into  the  liter¬ 
al  gehenna  of  fire  bodily,  and  ot  course  no  provision  to  excuse 
the  penalty  by  cut  ing  off  a  band  cr  a  foot,  or  plucking  out  an 
eye. 

In  our  last  sermon  we  showed  tu at  the  duty  of  subjugating 
the  lusts  and  appetites  was  the  thing  taught  in  all  the  places 
wher  i  the  Savior  said,  cut  off  hand  or  foot  or  pluck  out  an  eye. 


142 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


And  now  we  are  able  to  see  clearly  that  the  result  of  cutting 
off  and  plucking  out  those  sinful  indulgences  will  be  that  we 
will  thereby  be  saved,  not  from  the  ge henna  here,  but  from  the 
hell,  the  gehenna  of  the  eternal  world,  'this  will  be  sufficient 
explanation  of  the  word  hell  in  Matt,  viii :  9. 

“Fear  not  them  who  kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the 
soul :  but  rather  fear  Him  wbo  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and 
body  in  hel].’,  Matt,  x :  28. 

“  I  say  unto  you  my  friend,  be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the 
body,  and  after  that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do.  But  I  will 
forewarn  you  whom  you  shall  fear :  fear  him,  who  after  he  hath 
killed,  hath  power  to  cast  into  hell;  yea,  I  say  unto  you,  fear 
Him.”  Lukexii:4, 5. 

These  are  parallel  passages,  the  former  being  Matthew’s,  and 
the  latter  Luke's  account  of  the  same  utterances  of  the  Savior. 
In  both,  the  word  hell  comes  from  gehenna.  The  exegesis 
of  the  one  is  the  exegesis  of  the  other.  Gehenna  here  does 
not  and  can  not  nuan  the  earthly  valley  of  such  bad  notoriety. 
All  that  ever  was  done,  or  ever  could  be  done,  in  that  valley  was 
to  destroy  the  body.  Man  can  kill  the  body,  but  that  is  all  that 
he  can  do.  An  idolatrous  king  could  burn  the  bodies  of  his 
victims  in  sacrifice  to  Molech,  but  that  wras  all.  But  the  Savior 
addressed  these  words  to  his  disciples  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
they  were  to  be  persecuted,  imprisoned,  scourged  and  even  put 
to  death  for  Christ’s  sake.  He  tells  them  not  to  be  afraid  of 
their  persecutors.  His  reason  for  not  being  afraid  of  them  is 
that  they  can  do  no  more  than  kill  the  body.  His  exhortation 
is  to  “  Fear  him  who  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in 
hell.”  “  Fear  him  who  after  he  hath  killed,  hath  power  to  cast 
into  hell.”  Casting  into  the  earthly  gehenna  pertained  only  to 
the  body,  and  preceded  death.  But  here  is  casting  into  a  gehen¬ 
na  after  death  :  there  is  no  escape  here.  The  punishment  that 
God  will  inflict  on  the  impenitent  sinner,  and  the  unbelieving 
sinner,  is  after  death.  This  is  not  all;  it  will  affect  both  soul 
and  body.  “Fear  him  who  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and 
body  in  hell.”  This  puts  it  beyond  the  resurrection;  for  after 
killing,  or  after  death,  the  soul  and  body  will  be  separated  until 
the  resurrection.  But  beyond  the  resurrection  men  will  have 
both  souls  and  bodies,  and  the  gehenna  of  that  world  will  re¬ 
ceive  b(  th  the  bodies  and  souls  of  wicked  meu. 


EVERLASTING  PUNISHMENT. 


143 


‘Hell,  then,  lies  beyond  the  final  iudgment.” — McOarvey. 

This  Scripture  completely  upsets  the  theory  that  the  penalty 
due  to  sin  is  all  executed  upon  the  offender  in  this  life.  It  is  an 
extinguisher  of  another  human  theory  of  modern  times,  popu¬ 
larly  known  as  “Soul-sleeping.”  This  theory  avers  that  the 
soul  dies  with  the  body  and  is  unconscious  after  death,  hence 
the  name  “Soul-sleeper.”  But  the  Lord  here  very  pointedly 
teaches  that  while  the  persecutors  of  the  early  Christians  could 
and  would  kill  the  bodies  of  his  disciples,  they  could  not  kill 
their  souls.  According  to  Christ’s  words,  in  this  place,  the 
wicked  Jews  who  stoned  Stephen  to  death  only  killed  his  body. 
The  history  of  the  case  shows  beyond  all  question  that  Stephen 
himseif  so  understood  it,  for  while  the  hard-hearted  tyrants 
were  stoning  his  body  to  death,  he  called  upon  God,  saying: 
“  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit.”  Stephen  made  no  mistake  at 
that  lime  either ;  for  “He  being  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  looked 
up  into  heaven,  and  saw  the  glory  of  God,  and  Jesus  standing 
on  the  right  hand  of  God.”  Under  the  inspiration  of  the  Spirit, 
he  made  no  false  utterance,  nor  mistaken  prayer,  when  he  said : 
“  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit  ”  The  Master  most  effectually 
kills  both  Uuiversalism  and  Materialism  when  he  says  :  “  Fear 
not  them  who  kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul : 
but  ra  her  fear  him  who  is  able  to  destroy  both  body  and  soul 
in  hell.” 

“Woe  unto  you  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites;  for  ye 
compass  sea  and  land  to  make  one  proselyte,  and  when  he  is 
made,  ye  make  him  two  fold  more  the  child  of  hell  than  your¬ 
selves.”  Matt,  xxiii :  15. 

flell  in  this  verse,  comes  from  gehenna.  “To  be  a  child  of 
hell,  was  a  Hebrew  phrase,  signifying  to  be  deserving  of  hell,  to 
be  awfully  wicked.” — Barnes.  This  is  correct.  The  Lord, then, 
makes  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  “deS'  rving  of  hell  and  their 
proselytes  more  so  than  themselves.  But  we  have  already  seen 
that  no  body  at  that  time  was  in  any  sense  liable  to  the  literal, 
earthly  gehenna.  Jesus  here  speaks  of  the  hell  to  which  wicked 
men  are  going  after  death  and  after  the  resurrection  and  the 
final  judgment 

“  Ye  serpents,  ye  generatiou  of  vipers!  how  can  ye  escape  the 
damnation  of  hell  ?”  Matt,  xxiii :  33. 

Hell  here,  also,  comes  trom  gthenna.  The  blessed  Master  is 


144 


THE  MOB  ERL Y  PULPIT. 


terribly  severe  on  the  Pharisees  here.  He  asks  the  question: 
“ How  can  ye  escape  the  damnation  of  hell?”  as,  to  a  Pharisee 
like  those  to  whom  he  was  talking,  unanswerable.  The  mean¬ 
ing  is,  that  the  hypocritical  Scribes  and  Pharisees  could  not  and 
would  not  “escape  the  damnation  of  hell  ”  But  the  Scribes  and 
Pharisees  were  in  authority  in  Judea  and  were  in  no  danger  of 
literal,  earthly  gehenna.  But,  on  account  of  their  hypocrisy 
and  unbelief,  they  were  doomed  to  the  damnation  of  the  hed 
that  will  engulf  the  wicked  after  death,  after  the  resurrection 
and  after  the  final  judgment  day. 

Once  more,  we  quote :  “  The  tongue  is  a  fire,  a  world  of  iniq¬ 
uity  :  so  is  the  tongue  among  our  members,  that  it  defileth  the 
whole  body,  and  setteth  on  fire  the  course  of  nature,  and  is  set 
on  fire  of  hell.”  James  iii :  6.  Here  hell  comes  from  gehenna. 
What  is  the  meaning  of  this  Scripture  ?  1  will  answer.  Remember 
two  things  :  1.  Jf  sus  says  that,  “  Out  of  the  abundance  ol  the 
heart  the  mouth  speaketh  ”  The  tongue  is  animated,  is  con¬ 
trolled,  “  Is  set  on  fire”  by  the  condition  of  the  heart  of  its 
owner.  The  tongue  of  an  angry  man  speaks  angry  words. 
The  tongue  of  a  hypocrite  speaks  lying  words  of  hypocrisy. 
But  all  such  men  are  doomed  to  hell  in  the  end.  In  this  place 
hell  is  made  to  represent  the  characters  of  those  who  are  doom¬ 
ed  to  it.  It  is  thus  represented  as  setting  the  tongue  on  fire. 

But  the  literal  gehenna  really  never  did,  even  in  a  figure,  set 
the  tongue  of  its  victims  on  fire.  Its  victims  were  little  chil¬ 
dren  offe  red  in  sacrifice  to  Molech,  more  than  six  centuries  be¬ 
fore  James’  day.  But  this  was  present,  was  going  on  when 
James  wrote.  He,  too,  then  meant  the  place  of  punishment  for 
the  wicked  in  the  eternal  world. 

In  answer  to  our  first  question:  What  does  hell  mean?  we  are 
justified  in  saying  that  when  it  comes  from  hades  it  means  the 
place  or  state  of  departed  spirits  after  death  and  previous  to  the 
general  resurrection  and  judgment,  but  that  when  it  comes  from 
gehenna,  it  means  the  place  or  state  of  the  wicked  after  the 
general  resurrection  and  judgment. 

Our  discourse  is  already  long  enough.  We  stop  just  here. 

Let  us,  dear  brethren,  be  very  careful  to  continue  faithful  to 
the  Lord  that  we  come  not  finally  to  the  awful  fate  of  all  the 
unfaithful  in  an  eternal  hell. 

And  you,  my  friends,  who  are  yet  in  your  sins,  who  have 


EVERLASTING  PUNISHMENT. 


145 


never  obeyed  the  gospel,  allow  me  to  warn  you  “To  flee  from 
the  wrath  to  come!”  Come  and  obey  the  loving  Savior  to-day. 
Get  ready  for  that  awful  “Day  of  judgment so  that  you  will 
not  be  among  the  unhappy  number,  who  will  call  upon  the 
rocks  and  the  mountains  to  fall  upon  them  and  hide  them  from 
the  face  of  him  who  now  sits,  and  will  then  sit  upon  the  throne. 

Come,  confess  him  now.  While  the  brethren  sing: 

“  Day  of  judgment,  day  of  wonders,” 
we  earnestly  plead  with  you  to  come. 


% 


SERMON  XI, 


CHRISTIAN  GIVING. 


Delivered  before  the  Howard  County  Meeting,  at  Ash¬ 
land,  Mo.,  May  19,  1881. 


Text.— “  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.’'' — Jesus. 

My  Dear  Brethren  and  Sisters  : 

Your  candid  and  serious  attention  is  asked  at  this  time,  to 
one  of  the  most  important  themes  pertaining  to  the  Christian 
life.  It  is  Christian  Giving.  It  is  eminently  practical.  It 
pervades  the  entire  Christian  dispensation.  Christianity  itself 
is  a  gift.  Our  salvation  is  a  gift.  Christ  our  Lord  and  Master 
is  a  gift.  His  shed  blood  that  takes  away  our  sins  is  a  free 
gift.  We  can  not  pay  for  it' and  can  only  receive  it  as  a  gift  be¬ 
stowed  upon  us  by  divine  love.  God  himself  is  the  first  and 
greatest  and  best  giver.  He  has  given  us  countless  blessings. 
His  noblest  gift  is  his  Son  whom  he  has  given  to  take  away  our 
sins,  to  redeem  us  from  the  grave  and  to  open  to  us  the  gates 
of  the  golden  city.  He  has  become  our  King,  and  his  word  is 
our  law.  Let  us  now  honestly  direct  our  attention  to  his  word 
and  see  what  he  requires  of  us.  In  the  “  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,”  he  said  to  his  disciples :  “  Give  to  him  that  asketh  thee : 
and  from  him  that  would  borrow  of  thee,  turn  not  thou  away.” 

These  words  are  addressed  to  his  disciples.  If  we,  to-day, 
are  his  disciples,  these  words  are  applicable  to  us.  The  duties 
here  enforced  are  our  duties.  On  us  they  are  binding.  With 
all  the  authority  of  the  King’s  command  we  are  required  to 
give.  If  any  one  of  us  be  not  a  giver,  he  is  in  rebellion  against 
the  law  of  the  Lord  and  living  in  sin.  There  is  no  specification 
here  as  to  what  we  shall  give,  or  to  whom  we  shall  give,  or  how 
146 


CHRISTIAN  GIVING. 


14 


much  we  shall  give,  only  that  we  must  give  “to  him  that 
asketh.”  The  Savior  in  this  discourse  deals  with  general  prin¬ 
ciples.  He  simply  lays  down  the  law  of  his  kingdom  that  all 
his  subjects  must  be  givers,  must  be  benevolent,  most  be  liberal, 
must  not  be  grasping  and  stingy.  The  specifications  as  to  when, 
to  whom,  how  much  and  for  what  purpose  we  should  give,  we 
are  not  told.  These  are  to  be  learned  from  the  Savior’s  subse¬ 
quent  teachings,  and  from  the  words  of  the  apostles  and  the 
example  of  the  primitive  Christian^,  when  they  acted  under  the 
personal  supervision  of  the  apostles.  But  the  law  of  Christ  is 
here  clearly  laid  down  that  Christians  must  be  givers.  To  be  a 
Christian,  at  all,  a  man  must  give.  The  man  who  does  not  give 
is  not  a  true  follower  of  Christ,  however  deeply  and  comp'etely 
he  may  have  been  immersed,  and  however  plainly  his  name  may 
be  written  on  a  church,  paper,  record.  To  be  a  practical,  real 
Christian,  he  must  imitate  the  character  of  God  and  follow  the 
example  of  the  Savior.  He  can  not  imitate  the  character  of 
God  without  being  a  giver,  a  liberal  giver.  To  give  sparingly, 
or  grudgingly,  or  not  according  to  ability,  is  no  imitation  of 
God’s  character  To  give  simply  to  be  seen  of  men  does  not  at 
all  imitate  the  divine  character.  He  who  does  not  give  does 
not  follow  Je-us.  While  on  earth  Christ  went  about  doing 
good  He  was  a  Giver  on  the  grandest  scale.  He  was  able  to 
give  to  each  suffering  one  just  the  blessing  that  he  needed.  If 
the  sufferer  were  sick  he  healed  him,  blind  he  opened  his  eyes, 
deaf  he  unstopped  his  ears,  lame  he  made  him  rise  up  and  walk, 
insane  he  clothed  him  in  his  right  mind,  if  heart-broken  he 
soothed  his  troubled  soul  with  words  of  cheer  and  hope.  To 
do  all  these  things  Jesus  possessed  unlimited  power.  To  do 
them,  our  power  is  limited.  We  can  not  go  beyond  our 
ability. 

But  if  we,  brethren,  to-day,  claim  to  be  the  followers  of 
Christ,  we  ought  to  do  all  these  good  things  so  far  as  we  have 
the  ability.  If  our  fellow  man  is  hungry  we  can  not  feed  him 
miraculously.  We  can  not  feed  hungry  thousands  on  “seven” 
loaves  and  “a  few  small  fishes,”  but  we  can  feed  the  needy  to 
the  extent  of  our  ability.  There  is  no  need  that  any  one  of  us 
feed  thousands.  If  each  one  would  do  h  s  duty  according  to  his 
ability  no  one  would  go  hungry  whom  we  ought  to  feed.  No 
one  of  us  can  do  the  good  deeds  of  Jesus  on  the  large  scale  on 


148 


THE  MCBERLY  PULPIT. 


which  he  did  them,  but  we  can  do  them  ia  like  kiud  on  our 
limited  scale,  and  thus  be  bis  followers  But  when  v*  e  close  up 
our  hearts  and  our  purses  against  the  appeals  of  want  aud  woe, 
we  cease  to  be  the  followers  of  Christ,  we  are  no  longer  his. 
Stinginess  is  anti-Christian,  and  covetousness  is  idolatry. 
There  is  an  alarming  amount  of  idolatry  even  in  this  enlighten¬ 
ed  nineteenth  century  and  in  free  America.  It  does  not  b  nd 
the  knee  of  flesh  as  of  old  to  images  carved  in  wood  or  wrought 
in  metals.  It  does  not  now  offer  human  flesh  and  blood  to 
braztn  gods  on  fiery,  smoking  altars  as  it  once  did.  But  it  does 
demand  and  receive  the  adorations  and  the  afiVctions  of  multi¬ 
tudes.  While  it  does  not  receive  the  adorations  and  the  affec¬ 
tions  of  human  hearts  bestowed  upon  the  gold'  n,  or  brazen,  or 
wooden  imag<  s  of  gods,  who  are  no  gods,  it  does  swallow  up 
the  soul’s  best  love  for  golden  gods  wrought  into  the  form  of 
dollars,  and  silver  gods  wrought  into  the  form  of  dollars  and 
dimes,  for  paper  gods  wrought  into  the  form  ot  bank  bills, 
greenbacks,  government  bonds  and  certificates  of  stock. 

Money  is  a  good  thing,  a  most  excellent  thing,  when  not 
prostituted  to  improper  uses.  The  golden  image,  that  Nebu¬ 
chadnezzar,  the  king,  set  up,  was  a  harmless  thing  of  itself. 
But  the  king  claimed  for  it  the  affections  and  adorations  of  the 
people.  The  golden  image  of  Nebuchadnezzar  would  have 
done  little  harm  if  the  hearts  of  the  people  had  never  been  be¬ 
stowed  upon  it.  The  very  best  interests  of  men  are  subserved 
by  their  loving  God  with  all  their  hearts,  loving  hi  n  supreme¬ 
ly.  But  the  very  moment  a  man  begins  to  love  an  earthly  p  s- 
session  and  thus  to  draw  his  heart  away  from  God  he  begins  to 
be  an  idolator.  While  golden  dollars  and  silver  dollars  and 
paper  dollars,  and  the  values  which  they  represent,  are  all  good 
things,  excellent  things,  when  put  to  their  right  uses,  they  are 
bad  things  when  wrongly  used.  A  gold  coin  is  not  the  proper 
object  of  the  heart’s  love.  As  long  as  it  is  made  an  instrumen¬ 
tality  to  do  good  with,  it  is  a  good  thing  to  have.  But  it  was 
never  made  to  be  loved.  Whenever  a  man,  in  the  church  or  out 
ofit,b(  stows  his  love, or  the  affections  of  his  heart, upon  his  money, 
he  at  once  has  a  golden  god,  or  a  silver  god,  or  a  paper  god  as 
the  case  may  be,  and  he  is  an  idolator.  Covetousness  closes  his 
heart  aud  his  purse  to  the  orphan’s  cry  for  bread,  and  tbe  lost 
sinner’s  appeal  for  the  bread  of  life.  Though  the  poor  sinner’s 


CHRISTIAN  GIVING. 


149 


poor,  hungry  soul  pleads  through  the  tears  of  Jesus,  through 
his  crown  of  thorns,  through  his  mangled  bleeding  hands  and 
feet,  through  his  dying  groans  and  agonies,  through  his  match¬ 
less  words  of  love  and  mercy  uttered  on  the  cross  and  in  the 
very  jaws  o' death:  “Fa  her  forgive  them  for  they  know  not 
what  they  do,”  through  his  precious  blood,  the  money-loving 
man  turns  a  deaf  ear  to  the  pleadings  of  the  lost  soul.  No  won¬ 
der  that  Paul  says,  “  The  love  of  money  is  the  root  ef  all  evil  ” 
“The  love  of  money”  makes  a  man  stingy,  grasping,  oppressive, 
hard-hearted  and  cruel.  “  The  love  of  money”  takes  bread  out 
of  children’s  mouths,  shoes  off  their  feet,  and  turns  the  lonely 
widow  with  her  hapless  orphans  out  in  the  cold.  “  The  love  of 
money”  withholds  education  from  the  igooran*-,  and  the  gospel 
of  Christ  from  millions  of  lost  sinnerj. 

What  is  the  remedy  for  this  idolatry  ?  For  this  worship  of 
the  dollar  god?  When  righteous  kings  of  olden  times  would 
purge  Israel  of  idolatry,  th°y  cut  down  the  groves,  broke  down 
the  altars  and  ground  the  idols,  the  false  gods,  to  powder. 
Thus  they  purified  Israel  from  her  idolatry.  How  shall  we 
purge  spiritual  Israel  of  her  idolatry  ?  Let  us  do  like  the  good 
kings  of  Judah!  Let  us  smash  it!  Let  us  grind  the  idols  to 
powder !  Our  idols  are  not  money  itself,  but  the  love  of  it. 
How  destroy  the  love  ot  it  and  drive  it  out  of  a  human  heart? 
1  he  Savior  knew  how  to  do  it.  He  advised  no  half-way  meas¬ 
ures.  There  came  to  him  once  a  young  man  saying :  “  Good 
Master,  what  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life  ?”  This  man  was 
an  idolator  in  that  he  loved  this  world's  goods  and  money. 
TheMaster’s  final  answer  was  :  “Sell  all  that  thou  hast  and  dis¬ 
tribute  unto  the  poor,  and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven” 
The  Savior’s  method  ot  grinding  his  idol  to  powder  was  to 
give  his  money  away.  That  is  the  right  remedy,  the  only 
remedy  for  a  covetous  heart  for  a  stingy  soul.  Brother,  if  you 
find  that  the  “love  of  money”  is  striking  “the  root  of  all  evil” 
down  into  your  heart,  kill  it,  pluck  it  up  root  and  branch  by 
giving  to  the  needy.  Christian  giving  is  the  potent  remedy. 
If  your  case  is  as  desperate  as  that  ot  the  ruler  in  the  Savior’s 
day,  you  will  have  to  give  all  that  you  have.  That  *  as  hi* 
only  chance  and  he  would  not  do  it.  Rather  than  give  all,  he 
declii  ed  the  promise  of  eternal  IPe.  But  no  man  who  has  any 
right  to  call  himself  a  Christian  is  so  bad  as  that  man.  When 


150 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


he  becomes  such  a  lover  of  this  world  as  was  that  man,  he  will 
have  ceased  to  be  a  Christian  if  he  ever  was  one. 

There  are  two  cases  where  a  man  ought  to  give  all  One  is 
the  case  already  considered  where  a  man  has  gone  so  far  that 
his  idol  can  only  be  broken  by  giving  up  all.  Such  a  man’s 
soul  can  only  be  saved  by  giving  up  all,  so  as  utterly  to  blot  out 
his  idol.  The  other  is  in  the  case  of  necessity,  to  avert  griev¬ 
ous  suffering,  and  to  preserve  life.  A  loving  fathOr  or  mother 
would  give  all  to  save  the  1  fe  ot  a  darling  child.  The  disciples 
gave  all  at  Jerusalem  soon  after  the  first  preaching  of  the  gos¬ 
pel  on  the  Pentecost  day.  There  is  no  intimafion  that  the  Lord 
was  not  well  pleased  with  their  giving  all  at  that  time.  There 
is  one  more  case  of  giving  all.  It  is  when  one  wishes  to  do 
so  for  the  good  of  men  and  the  glory  of  God.  This  is  illus¬ 
trated  by  the  widow's  mite.  She  gave  all,  and  the  Lord  him¬ 
self  commended  her  for  it.  But  these  cases  of  giving  all  in  the 
nature  of  things,  can  not  and  ought  not  to  be  numerous  as 
compared  wiih  the  constant  and  repeated  givings  in  which  the 
lives  of  all  Christians  ought  to  abound. 

Christian  giving,  like  the  Christian  life  ought  to  fill  up  the 
entire  period  of  time  intervening  between  a  man’s  conversion 
to  Christ  and  the  time  of  his  death.  When  a  Christian  man 
gives  to-day  all  that  he  has  he  will  likely  have  nothing  to  give 
to-morrow.  We  ought  to  give  this  year,  but  at  the  same  time 
remember  that  we  shall  be  called  upon  to  give  next  year.  Let 
us  remember,  brethren,  that  giving,  like  prayer,  singing,  and 
attendance  at  the  Lord’s  house,  is  a  Christian  duty.  As  pray¬ 
ing  to-day  does  not  release  us  from  praying  to-morro  so  giv¬ 
ing  to-day  does  not  release  ue  from  giving  to-morrow.  It  is  a 
constant  duty. 

it  is  a  Christian  duty  to  give  to  the  following  objects  :  1  To 
the  poor.  2.  To  the  cause  of  education.  3  To  the  cause  of 
missions.  To  give  to  the  poor  takes  a  wide  range.  Under  it 
may  be  included  the  following  proper  objects:  (1)  Feeding  the 
hungry.  (2)  Clothing  the  raked  (3)  Housing  the  homeless. 
(4)  Doing  all  these  things  for  the  blind,  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  the 
lame  and  the  insane.  All  orphan  asylums,  asylums  tor  the 
blind,  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  for  the  insane  and  all  other  in¬ 
stitutions  of  like  kind,  of  whatever  name,  are  the  outgrowth  of 
Christian  benevolence.  The  seed-thought  from  which  they  all 


CHRISTIAN  GIVING. 


151 


spring  into  life,  and  usefulness,  came  down  to  earth  in  Jesus 
Christ,  when  he  came  as  God’s  free  gift  to  a  l^st  world,  formu¬ 
lated  into  words  when  he  sa'd:  “  Give  to  him  that  asketh  thee  : 
and  from  him  that  would  borrow  of  thee  turn  not  thou  away.” 
“Freely  you  have  received,  fre-dy  give.”  This  seed-thought, 
planted  in  the  human  heart  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  has 
germinated  and  taken  root, and  has  now  become  a  living  thing 
in  the  form  of  homes  for  the  friendless,  skilled  physicians  for 
the  insane  and  afflicted  poor,  accomplished  instructors  for  the 
deaf  and  dumb  and  blind,  and  the  weak-minded.  It  may  be 
said  that  the  State  does  these  things.  True  ;  but  the  State  is 
the  people  organized.  The  State  doing  these  good  things  is 
the  i  eople  giving  in  their  organized  capacity.  Where  the  gos¬ 
pel  has  not  been  preached  and  where  Christ  is  not  known,  the 
State  does  not  do  these  things.  Jn  these  institutions  the  peo¬ 
ple  do  a  work  in  the  name  of  the  State,  that  is,  in  the  name  of 
the  people  organized,  which  they  could  not  do  in  an  individual 
capacity. 

Although  the  State  is  doing  so  much  good  work,  there  is  still 
left  ample  room  for  Christian  giving  in  our  ind  vidual  capacity 
and  directly  iu  the  name  of  the  Lord.  There  are  plenty  of  poor 
and  lost,  and  lonely,  and  ignorant,  and  suffering,  whom  we  can 
help,  and  whom  we  must  help,  and  do  it  in  the  Lord’s  name 
too,  if  we  value  our  own  soul’s  salvation. 

To  give  to  the  cause  of  education  is  a  religious  duty.  The 
State  to  a  certain  extent  very  properly  gives  secular  education. 
But  it  does  not  and  it  can  not  give  Christian  education.  None 
of  us  would  be  willing  for  the  State  to  take  control  of  the  re¬ 
ligious  instruction  of  our  children.  We  dare  not  do  that  in 
view  of  the  judgment  to  come.  Religious  education  must  be 
had  in  the  family,  in  the  Sunday-school,  in  the  church  and  in 
schools  builded  and  sustained  by  Christian  giving.  Such  a 
school  is  our  Female  Orphan  School  now  located  at  Camden 
Point.  While  that  school  has  done  great  good,  its  good  work 
might  have  been  ten-fold  greater  had  the  brethren  opened  their 
hearts  and  their  pocket-books  more  liberally  than  they  have 
done.  '1  he  lack  of  sufficient  means  has  been  the  one  great  want 
that  has  hindered  its  greater  usefulness. 

Thorough  Christian  education  can  only  be  had  in  Christian 
schools,  Christian  colleges,  and  Christian  universities.  But 


152 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


these  can  never  be  founded  and  perpetuated  without  liberal 
giving-.  The  buildings  have  to  be  erected  with  the  m^ans  fur¬ 
nished  by  Christian  benevolence.  After  the  buildings  are 
erected  and  furnished  there  is  continued  need  of  giving.  This 
is  abundantly  proved  by  all  State  institutions.  After  buildings 
are  erected  and  furnished  at  public  expense,  the  legislature  and 
governor  have  to  make  appropriations  every  session  to  keep 
them  going.  The  necessity  for  this  proves  that  it  is  n°cessary 
to  keep  on,  from  year  to  year,  fostering  our  Christian  colleges 
by  continued  giving.  Our  liberality,  dear  bre  hren,  has  here¬ 
tofore  been  too  spasmodic.  We  have  sometimes  been  full  of  zeal 
and  have  given  generously  and  nobly  and  started  schools  with 
fine  prospects,  but  afterwards  allowed  our  ardor  to  abate,  our 
zeal  to  grow  cold,  our  efforts  to  flag  and  our  contributions  to 
cease  ;  thus  allowiug  our  youug  colleges,  some  of  them  to  per¬ 
ish  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  others  to  struggle  with  pov¬ 
erty  for  years  to  mar. tain  a  precarious  existence. 

Brethren  and  sisters,  we  need  to  have  broader,  deeper,  high¬ 
er,  grander  and  more  Christlike  conceptions  of  Christian  be¬ 
nevolence.  We  must  get  rid  of  the  idea  that  doing  well  one 
year  is  in  any  sense  of  the  word  a  reasonable  excuse  for  not 
doing  equally  well  every  year  thereafter .  Another  sad  mis¬ 
take  iuto  which  many  fall  i-,  that,  when  age  begins  to  creep 
upon  them  they  stop  giv  ng  because  they  can  not  m*ke  money 
as  they  once  could,  they  can  not  labor  as  they  once  did.  This 
is  all  wrong  *  ith  those  who  are  the  most  able  to  give.  Of 
course  with  a  man  who  can  only  give  of  the  daily  labor  of  his 
hands,  or  who  fas  no  capital  except  his  ability  to  work,  ad¬ 
vancing  age  is  a  reasonable  excuse.  But,  with  those  who  have 
capital  it  is  an  unreasonable  plea.  It  is  greatly  to  be  feared 
that  it  is  an  invention  of  a  covetous  heart  to  sileuce  the  remon¬ 
strances  of  a  guilty  conscience.  The  truth  is  fhat  the  older  a 
man  is  who  has  capital,  the  shorter  the  time  that  he  will  need 
it  himself,  and  the  more  able  he  i9  to  give  to  the  Lord.  All 
over  this  country  there  are  old  people  who  have  much  more 
than  they  can  possibly  «  xpend  on  their  own  reasonable  wants 
while  they  can  expect  to  live,  woo  will  give  little  or  nothing  to 
the  Lor  d’s  p^or  or  to  the  purpose  of  educat  on,  or  to  the  cause 
of  missions,  giving  their  age,  when  pressed,  as  a  reason  f  or  not 
giving,  when,  in  fact,  to  eir  age  is  an  indisputable  proof  that  th^y 
will  need  but  little  of  their  possession. 


CHRISTIAN  GIVING 


153 


The  third  object  to  which,  in  additio  i  to  giving  to  the  poor 
and  to  the  cause  of  education,  we  ought  to  give  continuously,  is 
the  work  of  missions  Ever  since  Jesus  said:  “  Go  teach  all 
nations;”  “Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  pr<  ach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature,”  it  has  been  the  duty  of  his  disciples  to  sh  ulder 
the  responsibility  and  see  that  the  gospel  is  carried  int )  all  parts 
of  the  world  The  obligation  rests  on  the  whole  church,  and 
every  member  of  the  church  has  his  share  of  the  responsibility. 
The  man  who  g<  es  in  pers<  n  t<>  preachCbristin  the  far  off  regions 
of  the  earth  obeys  i  he  precepts  <  ftt  e  great  commission.  The  man 
who  gives  of  his  earnings  and  of  his  goods  to  feed  aud  clothe 
the  man  who  goes,  also  obeys  the  commission.  But  the  man 
who  neither  goes  nor  gives  anything  to  him  who  does  go,  lives 
in  violation  of  the  authority  of  the  Great  King  who  gave  the 
commisson.  He,  who  gives  nothing  to  further  on  the  work  of 
the  commission, is  a  sinner  against  »he  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  “  Sin 
is  the  transgression  of  the  law.”  The  great  c  >mmission  is  the 
law  of  Christ,  and  he  who  neglects  or  refuses  to  help  carry  it  out 
transgresses  the  law  of  Christ  and  thereby  becomes  a  sinner. 
Let  us  be  very  careful  brethren  that  we  c  >mply  with  the  re¬ 
quirement  of  cur  dear  Savior.  Let  us  not  disregard  his  au¬ 
thority. 

We  come  now  to  ask  the  question :  Why  all  this  giving?  Why 
has  God  required  that  we  should  give?  There  is  more  than  one 
why.  We  are  called  upou  to  give  to  the  po>»r  that  their  wants 
may  be  supplied.  That  is  a  good  reasou.  We  are  called  upon 
to  give  to  the  cause  of  education  that  the  ignorant  may  be  en¬ 
lightened  and  cultivated  aud  refined.  That  also  is  a  good  rea¬ 
son  for  giving.  We  are  expected  to  give  to  missions  that  sin¬ 
ners  may  believe  in  Christ  and  be  saved.  That  is  a  most  ex¬ 
cellent  reason  forgiving.  Again,  the  Master  commands  us  to 
give,  and  ihat  fact  constitutes  a  sufficient  reason  for  giving. 
But  there  is  another  reason,  an  all-powerful  reason,  why  we 
should  all  be  givers  and  liberal  givers  at  that.  Jesus  said  :  “  It 
is  more  blessed  to  give,  than  to  receive  ”  Here  is  another  most 
potent  reason  for  giving,  it  is :  that  the  giver  may  have  a  bless¬ 
ing,  and  that,  a  greater,  grander,  ai;d  better  blessing  than  he 
bestows  upon  another.  When  you  my  brother,  my  sister,  give 
food  to  a  hungry,  starving  fellow-being  you  confer  upon  him  a 
needed  blessing,  but  you  will  get  a  greater  one;  you  benefit  his 


154 


TBE  M0BEBLY  PULPIT. 


body,  but  you  enrich  your  own  soul.  When  you  bring  under 
your  hospitable  roof  a  homeless  orphan  child,  you  confer  upon 
it  a  great  blessing,  but  you  get  a  greater  one.  While  you  are 
giving  the  orphan  an  earthly  home,  you  are  securing  for  your¬ 
self  a  heavenly  home. 

How  is  it  true  that  “It  is  more  bles-ed  to  give,  than  to  re¬ 
ceive?”  Let  us,  brethren,  carefully  look  at  this  question  in  the 
light  ot  facts.  1.  You,  brethren  and  sisters,  are  candidates  for 
heaven.  2.  The  society  of  heaven  is  pure  and  Godlike  and 
there  is  no  discord  there.  3.  Every  spiritual  intelligence  ever 
admitted  there  must  be  in  union  with  God.  To  be  unlike  him 
will  exclude  from  heaven.  4.  God  is  an  unselfi'h  giver.  5. 
When  you  unselfishly  give  you  act  like  God.  You  are  animated 
by  the  same  spirit  and  desire  to  do  others  good.  Your  heart  is 
more  completely  transformed  into  the  divine  image  by  giving 
than  in  any  other  way.  Thus,  my  brother,  when  you  give,  you 
supply  another’s  want,  but  you  make  yourself  like  God,  and 
there  is  no  blessing  equal  to  being  like  the  heavenly  Father. 

Thus  the  stingy  man,  who  selfishly  refuses  to  give,  in  so  domg 
cheats  his  own  soul  out  of  the  highest  possible  good  to  which 
it  may  attain.  He  thus  disqualifies  himself  for  the  society  of 
the  kingdom  above.  For  a  few  paltry  dollars,  that  belong  to 
the  Lord,  and  that  he  covetously  ties  up  in  his  own  pocket,  he 
sells  his  mansion  in  the  Father’s  house,  his  crown  of  glory,  his 
share  in  the  tree  of  life  and  in  the  river  of  water  of  life.  Eter- 
al  life  bartered  away  to  gratify  a  selfish  disposition  for  a  few 
davs  on  earth ! 

Brethren,  let  us  all  become  givers!  While  there  is  some  lib_ 
eral  giving,  it  is  largely  done  by  the  few,  while  the  many  have 
not  been  doing  much.  Whenever  we  all  become  givers,  the 
Lord’s  work  will  move  grandly  on.  Our  schools,  our  colleges, 
and  our  missions  would  all  be  prosperous.  Our  churches  would 
be  warm,  zealous,  and  happy,  dinners  would  be  converted  and 
the  word  of  life  would  be  rapidly  carried  to  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth.  Our  souls  would  be  fitted  for  the  joys  of  the 
world  to  come. 

That  we  may  all  be  stirred  up  to  more  zeal,  to  more  love,  to 
more  prayer  and  to  more  Christian  giving  in  this  life,  and  that 
we  may  so  live,  and  so  work,  that  we  may  be  crowned  with 
glory  in  the  everlasting  kingdom  is  my  prayer  for  Christ’s  sake. 


SERMON  XII, 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS, 


Delivered  before  the  Trustees,  Professors,  Students 
and  Patrons  of  Christian  University,  Canton,  Mis¬ 
souri,  June  2,  1881. 


Text  —  “Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom. — 
Puul. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  : 

I  appear  before  you  and  in  the  presence  of  the  professors, 
Stucb  nts,  patrons  and  friends  of  Christian  University  to  receive 
from  your  hands  the  honorable  office  of  President  of  this  insti¬ 
tution,  to  which  you  have  elected  me,  and  at  this  hour  to  assume 
the  responsibilities  and  begin  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the 
office. 

It  is  meet  that  I  should  give  expression  to  my  own  convictions 
as  to  what  collegiate  education  ought  to  be,  and  to  my  own 
determination  as  to  the  work  of  the  University  while  I  shall  be 
its  presiding  officer. 

1.  I  believe  that  every  human  being  will  continue  to  exist 
eternally.  I  have  no  idea  that  a  man  will  ever  cease  to  be.  I 
believe  that,  while  the  endless  ages  of  eternity  continue  to  be, 
man  will  have  a  conscious  existence  without  cessation  of  being. 

2.  I  believe  that  whether  that  endless  conscious  being  shall  be 
happy  or  miserable  depends  upon  the  character  of  the  life  lived 
in  this  world. 

3.  I  believe  that  the  eternal,  self-existing  God  created  man 
designing  him  tor  both  usefulness  and  happiness,  designing  him 
to  be  happy  and  to  make  others  happy. 

4.  I  believe  that  all  education,  whether  in  the  family,  or  in 

155 


156 


THE  MOBERLY  PULPIT. 


the  church,  or  in  the  college,  ought  to  be  such  as  to  prepare  the 
pupil  for  happiness  and  usefulness  both  in  this  world  and  the 
world  to  come,  and  such  as  to  avoid  misery  and  wretchedness, 
both  in  she  life  that  now  is  and  that  which  is  to  come. 

5.  I  believe  that  inasmuch  as  every  human  being  is  possessed 
of  a  body,  an  intellect  and  a  spirit,  and  inasmuch  as  either 
happiness  or  misery  may  come  from  the  body  or  tbe  intellect, 
or  the  spirit,  all  education,  whether  collegiate  or  otherwise, 
ought  to  take  account  of  the  bodily,  the  intellectual  and  the 
spiritual  nature  of  humanity,  ought  to  preserve  the  equi  ibrium 
of  body,  intellect  and  spirit.  It  is  not  desirable  to  make  physi¬ 
cal  giants,  and  mental  and  moral  dwarfs.  Nor  is  it  desirable  to 
make  mental  giants,  and  physical  and  moral  dwarfs.  Nor  is  it 
desirable  to  make,  even,  moral  giants,  and  physical  and  mental 
dwarfs.  But  it  is  very  desirable  to  develop  all  the  three  natures 
evenly  balanced.  "This  will  make  a  happy  man  and  one  who  can 
be  useful,  dispensing  blessings  all  along  the  pathway  of  life. 

6.  Believing  as  I  do,  that  the  Bible  is  God’s  revelation  to  men, 
giving  us  the  true  If  story  of  our  origin,  and  a  perfect  standard 
of  morals  and  right,  tor  the  life  that  now  is,  and  opening  to  us 
the  portals  of  the  eternal  future,  I  shall,  to  the  best  of  my 
ability,  seek  to  lead  my  pupils  in  the  departments  of  “  6acred 
History”  and  “Sacred  Literature”  to  a  correct  understaming 
of  its  truths  and  principles.  Indeed,  it  shall  be  my  endeavor  to 
inspire  all  the  students  who  may  hereafter  attend  the  insti  ution 
with  profound  reverence  for  its  pure  principle  s  and  unwavering 
faith  in  its  facts,  its  promises  aud  its  threatenings. 

7.  It  shall  be  my  most  earn*  st  desire  and  effort  to  have  all  the 
work  in  all  the  departments  of  the  Univerdty  thoroughly  done 
I  can  say  in  truth  that  I  have  all  my  life  loved  thoroughness  and 
despised  superficiality.  In  this  desire  I  feel  perfectly  certain  of 
the  sympathy  and  co-operation  of  the  accomplished  and  schol¬ 
arly  gentlemen  who  will  be  my  associates  in  the  Faculty.  I 
also  ftel  confident  of  the  moral  support  and  approbation  of  you 
gentlemen  of  the  Board,  in  my  effort  to  have  all  that  w^  do, 
well  done.  With  all  this  I  shall  still  need  the  help  of  the 
students  to  make  the  institution  continue  to  maintain  a  high 
character  for  thoroughness.  The  best  teachers  in  the  world  can 
not  make  accurate  scholars  out  of  students  who  will  not  persist¬ 
ently  study  their  lessons.  But  when  teachers  and  pupils  work 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 


157 


earnestly  and  faithfully  together  in  love,  the  result  is  sure  to  be 
close,  critical  scholarship,  creditable  alike  to  teacher  and  pupils. 

8.  It  shall  be  my  purpose  to  enlarge  the  usefulness  of  the 
University  in  every  way  that  I  can  possibly.  I  shall  use  all  my 
energies  to  increase  the  number  of  students,  That  is  the  first 
consideration  in  enlarging  the  field  of  good  work.  We  can 
instruct  double  the  number  of  pupils  just  as  well,  and  without 
increase  of  expense,  as  the  number  usually  in  attendance.  I 
appeal  to  you  gentlemen  of  the  Board,  and  the  professors,  and 
to  the  citizens  of  Canton  generally,  to  help  me  in  this  effort. 
There  are  hundreds  of  young  gentlemen  and  young  ladies  in 
the  country  who  ought  to  have  a  better  education  than  they  can 
get  in  their  own  neighborhood.  Some  of  them  will  come  to 
t  hristian  University  if  the  claims  ol  the  institution  and  its 
facilities  for  doing  them  good  can  only  be  placed  before  them. 
Let  us  all  unite  our  efforts  this  summer  to  get  the  school  more 
fully  before  the  public  than  has  yet  been  done. 

9.  With  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  school  as  published 
in  the  last  catalogue  I  am  satisfied,  and  would  not  recommend 
any  changes  now.  It  shall  be  my  aim  to  live  up  to  those  rules 
myself,  and  I  shall  regard  it  my  duty  to  kindly  and  mildly,  but 
firmly  and  faithfully  enforce  them. 

10.  The  library  ought  to  be  enlarged.  Whenever  and  wher¬ 
ever  l  can  secure  a  good  book  I  will  do  it.  I  venture  to  suggest 
to  every  friend  of  the  University  to  do  the  same  thing.  Let  us 
enlarge  our  facilities  for  usefulness  whenever  we  can  without 
going  in  debt.  I  understand  that  there  is  no  debt  hanging  over 
this  building,  nor  this  corporation.  Let  us  all  set  our  faces  like 
flint  against  going  in  debt. 

11.  I  appeal  to  all  graduates  of  the  University,  and  specially 
to  the  young  ladies  and  gentlemen  v  ho  have  just  received  their 
diplomas,  to  remember  their  Alma  Mattr  with  atiection.  I  hey 
will  have  it  often  in  their  power  to  render  her  assistance  by 
influencing  both  ladies  and  gentlemen  to  become  students. 
Every  graduate  must  have  a  field  of  labor  and  usefulness  some¬ 
where.  Wherever  that  field  may  be  there  will  be  young  people 
who  ought  to  go  to  school,  who  ought  to  aspire  to  a  go  d 
education.  1  o  these  young  people  they  can  say:  “Christian 
University,  at  Canton,  Mo.,  is  a  good  place  to  obtain  a  superior 
education,  Christian  education.  Canton  is  a  good  town.  Her 


158 


MOB  ERL  Y  PULPIT. 


citizens  are  intelligent,  virtuous,  enterprising,  Christian  and 
hospitable.”  The  graduate  can  say  this  with  telling  effect,  for 
he  or  she  has  been  here  and  can  speak  from  experience.  We 
appeal  with  confidence  to  the  graduates  for  their  sympathy  and 
help  in  sending  us  new  students,  in  increasing  the  library,  in 
sending  specimens  to  the  museum. 

12.  I  must  now  be  allowed  to  address  myself  to  the  students 
ot  the  present,  session  who  are  not  yet  graduates.  L  most 
heartily  invite  you  to  return  next  session,  and  the  next  until 
your  scholarship  will  justify  the  Faculty  in  giving  you  each  a 
diploma.  I  have  one  more  request  to  make  of  each  student. 
That  is  that  each  one  of  you  make  a  special  effort  to  bring  a 
new  student  with  you  next  September.  Many  of  you  can  do  it 
if  you  will  try  in  good  earnest  Try  has  accomplished  wonders 
and  can  do  it  again. 

13.  I  also  desire  to  say  to  the  professors  that  I  expect  to  enjoy 
being  a  co-laborer  with  them  I  trust  that  we  shall  be  able  to 
work  together  as  one  man  for  the  prosperity  of  the  University, 
the  good  of  the  students  committed  to  our  keeping,  and  for  the 
glory  of  God.  Let  us  be  “  Knit  together  in  love,”  constantly 
“  endeavoring  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of 
peace.”  Let  us  be  sure  that  we  comply  in  our  own  persons  and 
in  our  own  hearts  with  Paul’s  injunction  to  the  Colossians,  when 
he  says  to  them:  “  Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  iu 
all  wisdom.”  Whether  we  teach  the  languages,  or  mathematics 
or  the  scieuces,  we  shall  need  to  have  our  own  hearts  full  of  the 
word  of  Christ,  so  that  our  words  and  our  daily  lives  shall  be 
the  outgrowth  of  his  teachings.  Let  our  daily  lives  be  a 
constant  exhibition  of  the  Spirit  of  the  great  Teacher.  Let  us 
renumber  that  our  pupils  need  not  only  to  be  fitted  for  the 
enjoyments  of  this  earth-life  of  “  three  score  aud  ten,”  less  or 
more,  and  for  its  duties,  but  they  are  also  to  be  fitted  to  fill 
places  of  honor  and  bliss  in  “  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  aud  Savior  Jesus  Christ.”  With  “the  word  of  Christ” 
dwelling  in  us  “  richly  in  all  wisdom,”  we  shall  constitute  a  band 
of  brothers,  willing  and  g'ad  to  help  one  another  and  bear  one 
an  ther  s  burden-.  In  thatw  ay  and  in  that  spirit,  dear  brothers, 
we  shall,  with  the  Lord’s  help,  be  able  to  bear  the  burdens  of 
Christian  University  and  carry  her  onward  and  upward,  higher 
and  still  higher  in  her  career  of  usefulness,  dispensing  b’essiugs 
on  every  hand  a^ong  her  upward  pathway  of  glory. 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 


159 


14.  And  finally,  permit  me  to  express  my  feelings  toward  the 
man  whom  I  am  to  succeed.  He  is  my  brother  beloved  in  the 
Lord.  My  personal  acquaintance  with  him  began  since  his 
coming  to  Canton.  I  knew  him  before  as  a  public  man,  but  had 
not  seen  his  face  nor  heard  his  voice.  We  first  met  face  to  faces 
at  a  lonely  railroad  station  about  three  years  ago.  At  that  little 
railroad  depot,  without  anybody  to  introduce  11s,  we  became 
acquainted.  By  his  manly,  gentlemanly,  Christian  bearing,  R. 

Lin  ave  won  my  heart  then  and  there,  and  we  have  been  fasr. 
friends  ever  since.  No  man  has  won  my  love  more  rapidly  than 
he.  My  best  wishes  and  my  prayers  shall  go  with  him  to  his 
new  field  of  work.  I  shall  also  feel  stronger  for  my  own  dudes  in 
full  belief  that  1  shall  have  his  sympathy  and  his  prayers  for  my 
success.  I  shall  feel  free  to  counsel  with  him  and  be  assist<  d  by 
his  advice.  Though  bodily  we  shall  be  hundreds  of  miles  apart, 
in  affection  and  spirit  we  shall  be  very  close  together. 

Now,  gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  with  humble  and 
confident  reliance  upon  the  God  of  Israel  for  help  and  strength, 
rather  than  upon  myself,  I  am  ready  to  assume  the  duties  of  the 
office  to  which  you  have  elected  me,  fully  expecting  your  wise 
counsel  and  co-operation  as  long  as  I  shall  be  the  President  of 
Christian  University. 


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